Wandering In Wonderland
by PenSmith433
Summary: The Doctor has changed his face and the man in the mirror has replaced him. The times that I have witnessed have changed me but the times that I will face may be infinitely harder. Perhaps I still do not know where I belong, so many planets and stars and moons go past that there is always something left. But I am confident, however that this is forever. 2nd in the Wonderland Series
1. The Christmas Invasion: Part 1

**Hello, if you've started to read this story and you've no idea what's been happening then I really would advise you in going and reading the first installment in this series: Falling Into Wonderland, because then you will have some idea what has been going on and we'll all be on the same page. Which would be good.**

**If you've already read the first part then welcome back or welcome onboard. We like having people involved in this story. To all those that reviewed the last chapter of the last part then I love you all to piece and dearly hope that this part will match up to your hopes. If not then review and tell me what you want to see. Actually do tell me either way, I like hearing feedback. And sorry for the very short post saying that this story was up. Thought it'll be useful.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**And so begins Part 2**

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The Christmas Invasion: Part 1

This was wrong, I thought as I watched the man dance around the control, grinning to himself madly, and doing things to the TARDIS console that showed us that he knew what he was doing, but it was wrong. He should be here, and where was the Doctor? Because this man was dressed in his clothing but he wasn't the Doctor...wasn't my Doctor. He was all wrong, and the way that he had appeared was just... I didn't even want to think about it because it was all wrong, and he shouldn't have been right here in the TARDIS.

Because he was wrong. He was my man in the mirror, someone who had haunted me since we had first stepped foot onto Satellite Five. He was someone that I never got to talk to who always disappeared when I had tried to see and was generally very elusive. And now he was here in the flesh and I didn't know what or why he was here. Nothing made sense with all of this and all I needed was the Doctor to come and explain it all, and he was the one person that wasn't right here where I needed him to be. So many unanswered questions which I was sure that he would know the answer to.

And from one look at Rose who was staying very near the pillar, I thought she was probably thinking the very same things as me, bar the thoughts about the man being in the mirror.

"6pm," the man spoke, twirling a dial on the console, "Tuesday...October, 5006, on the way to Barcelona," he staggered back a little to look at us, still grinning as if everything was perfectly all right, which it most certainly wasn't, "Now then, what do I look like?" he held up a hand, "Hold on, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, don't tell me," Why would I want to tell him what he looked like? He'd been in the bloody mirror all this time, surely he knew exactly what he looked like, that was the point of the bloody mirror! "Let's see," he looked down at himself, "Two legs, two arms, two hands," he twisted his wrist around, "Slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle,"

"What is he talking about?" Rose whispered to me and I shrugged back at her, completely as lost as she was, probably more so because I really had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. He seemed to be admiring what he looked like, "What is he, where's the Doctor?" I couldn't answer her, because I didn't know myself, all I got was that there was a profound sense of wrongness about this man, like he was about to burst, and it unnerved me.

He suddenly grabbed his hair, "Hair!" he shouted proudly, "I've got hair, I'm not bald!" he ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up on end, "Ohh, big hair," he sounded delighted at that, "Sideburns, I've got sideburns," he felt the side of his face, "That, or I've got really bad skin," he patted his stomach, "Little bit thinner," he sounded like a checklist that he was mentally going through, like he hadn't every known what he was before, "That's weird, give me time, I'll get used to it," he suddenly rolled his shoulders back, "I have got a mole, I can feel it," I looked away from him, this was just...creepy, "Between my shoulder blades, there's a mole. That's all right...love the mole," he grinned at us, "So, go on tell me, what do you think?"

"Who are you?" Rose asked him, and his face fell, "No really, who are you, because I've never seen you before and the Doctor's not here any more, and he said he was dying. But who are you because Alice and I have never seen you before and we want to know where the Doctor is,"

"I am the Doctor," he said to us and I shook my head, "Mary-Anne, you know who I am, you know that I'm the Doctor," I didn't look at him, "Mary-Anne?"

I rubbed my fingers through my head, "No, you're not the Doctor, you can't be the Doctor," I informed him, "You're just the man in the mirror that I've been seeing since Satellite Five, you're the the Doctor," a cold trickle entered my blood, freezing me, "But the Doctor knew about me seeing you and not know who you were so what have you done with him? What have you done with the Doctor because I really want to know where he is, and if you'e hurt him then both of us, Rose and I will find him,"

"You saw me," he pointed behind himself at the space where the Doctor had disappeared in that blaze of heat and light, "I changed, right there," he frowned at me, "You told me that you had seen a man in a mirror, I didn't realise that you had been talking about me. How interesting, seeing what I looked like before I had actually happened," he leaned towards me, "Although what was I doing in a mirror in the first place?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no," I interrupted him, waving a finger at him, "No, I did not tell you, I told the Doctor while he was working on the Delta Wave, he was not you," I walked back to stand next to Rose, "And what do you mean, talking about seeing you before you had happened. I saw you in a mirror, I did not see you anywhere else until you decided to come into the TARDIS and the Doctor disappeared, because you still haven't told us where he is,"

Rose bit her lip, "We saw him, sort of explode," she said quietly, "And then you replaced him, like a teleport or a transmat, or a body swap or something," she stared at him, before poking him in the chest, making him sway slightly back. "You're not fooling us, we've seen all sorts of things. Nanogenes...Gelth...Slitheen," a penny seemed to drop in her mind, "Oh my God, are you a Slitheen?" she demanded of him, "Because you should know that we know how to get rid of Slitheen very easily,"

I leaned over to her, "He's not a Slitheen, he's a bit too thin," I muttered to her but the man must have heard me, because he nodded pointing to me, "He's the man in the mirror that I've been seeing for months," I looked at him, "Send him back," I told him, "Please, just send him back,"

"Mary-Anne, Rose, it's me," he insisted, leaning forward, "Honestly, it's me, I was dying, and to save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell, but..." he shrugged helplessly, "It's still me," I refused to budge, and he walked forward to me, "If I'm not the Doctor, then how can I remember this?" he looked at me, "The very first word I ever said to you, when we were all trapped in that cellar, surrounded by shop window dummies," he looked away for a moment, "Oh, such a long time ago, I took your hand," he placed his hand in mind, "And I said one word, just one word. I said...run," I stared at him, "Hello,"

"Doctor?" I whispered and he grinned at me, "Is it really you?" he nodded, and I let out a long sigh, stumbling back slightly, and running my hands through my hair in agitation. Nothing really made sense with him, and I was still so confused. Nothing here any any sense now.

"And we never stopped, did we?" the other Doctor rattled off around the console madly, "All across the universe, running, running, running," he hit several buttons on the sides, looking so at home in rattling around, even if he was still in the Doctor's clothing, "One time we had to hop..." he started hopping on one foot, "Do you remember, Mary-Anne? Hopping for our lives?" Neither Rose nor I reacted to that, just stared at him, "Yeah, all that hopping for your life? With the..." he stood still, "No?"

"Can you change back?" Rose asked him.

He stared at us, "Do you want me to?" he inquired and we both nodded, "Oh, that's a problem," he scratched behind his ear, and I watched him carefully, "I can't..." he grimaced slightly, looking at both of us, "One way journey really, can't change all my cells back to what I was. It's a bit like baking a cake, you can't get the sugar and flour back after baking it all in the oven. Just like this where you can't go back," he glanced slightly at the floor, "Do you want to leave?"

"Why?" I turned to look at him directly, "Do you want us to leave here?" I placed my hands in my pockets and felt the fogwatch which was there. I twisted it in my hands, thinking of an easier time where this could have all been explained normally.

"No, of I don't," the new Doctor said emphatically, "But...your choice," he stared at me, and I met his eyes, "If you want to go home," I averted my eyes, and he tapped a couple of buttons, "Cancel Barcelona, let's change it to London, the Powell Estate..." he looked up briefly, "Let's say the 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present," he stood up straight, folding his arms, as if he was defending himself against the both of us, "There, done,"

"We're going home?" Rose asked him. I resisted the urge to chuckle, travelling in the TARDIS made you forget about Christmas and other holidays like that. If we were going linearly then we were technically still in August, and yet we jumped around so much while travelling that it could be any time of the year.

The Doctor nodded, "It's up to you," he informed us, "Back to your mum, it's all waiting, fish and chips, sausages and mash, beans on toast," he blinked, "No, Christmas! Turkey!" he stopped for a moment, "Although...having met your mother, nut loaf might be a lot more appropriate," my mouth twitched slightly at that, "Was that a smile?" I turned away from him, covering my mouth from him, not allowing him the satisfaction of seeing me smile at that, "That was a smile...you smiled,"

"No, I didn't," I defended slightly, "I didn't smile,"

"Oh come, I only changed, I didn't..." he suddenly retched slightly, and the TARDIS shuddered violently. Rose and I shared a look at each other, and the Doctor shook his had, "I said I didn't..." he retched violently again, with the TARDIS shaking again. This wasn't good, "Oh dear," I heard him say, and then blow out a stream of golden light that filtered off into the TARDIS console, "Ohh...the change is going a bit wrong and all,"

Rose crept forward slightly, "Are you all right?" she asked him, and he made a sputtering noise which didn't sound totally pleasant, "Look...maybe we should go back...let's go and find Captain Jack, he'd know what to do," my head snapped to look at her, I had forgotten that she didn't know what had happened to Jack with the Daleks, she had arrived far too late to destroy them before he had died. I faintly wondered what they were going to do back in the Year Two Hundred, One Hundred, how exactly they were supposed to recover from the demise of the Games.

However the Doctor didn't seem to be truly listening, "Gah, he's busy. He's got plenty to do with rebuilding the Earth!" I stared at him, he seemed to be out of his mind if he had forgotten what had happened to Jack. I watched as he placed his hands to his knees, like he was going to be sick before catching a glimpse of a lever on the console, "Oh, I haven't used this one in years," he said before flicking it, and I was almost knocked off my feet as the TARDIS lurched to the side.

I grabbed the railings as the Doctor rocketed around the place, "What the hell are you doing?" I demanded of him, and he laughed crazily.

"We're putting on a bit of speed!" he crowed triumphantly, "That's it," the shaking within the TARDIS grew, and I clutched harder onto the railings, "My beautiful ship! Come on, faster! That a girl!" he was growing manic, hitting as many buttons as possible, "Come on, faster!" he looked over at us "Want to break the time limit?!"

"Stop it!" Rose shouted at him.

"Ahh, don't be so dull!" he snapped back at her slightly nastily, and yet still completely crazy, "Let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex!" he staggered forward looking sane, "The regeneration's gone wrong," he told us, "I can't stop myself," he bent forward in pain, "Ahh my head!" and then he sprung up again, "Faster! Let's open those engines!" a bell sounded from somewhere, and he laughed violently, "We're going to crash land! This is brilliant,"

I pushed myself over to the console to look at him, "Then stop it," I said to him, "Do something to stop this, Doctor!" he was scary with the way that he was acting, like he was completely out of control with whatever he had going on in his head. The other Doctor wouldn't have ever done this, he had been far too sensible to do this.

He looked over at me with a grin, "Too late," he announced proudly, "We're out of control!" he ran around again, "Oh, I love it! Hot dawg," he span around in a circle, before pressing more buttons, "Hold on tight!, here we go! Christmas Eve," he laughed manically and suddenly the whole TARDIS lurched violently before coming to a juddering stop.

I fell onto the ground, rolling slightly, and saw that Rose had fallen down near me, "Is it me, or has he completely changed?" she asked me and I pressed my head against the grill under me, "What happened on Satellite Five and who is the man in the mirror? You never told me anything about it," I forced myself to get up, only to see the Doctor walking towards the door, "What happened to you back there, because you seem different," she placed a hand on my shoulder and I flinched involuntarily, still remembering the darkness that I had been trapped in, "Where did you go?"

"A long way away," I said to her briefly before walking towards the door, "We can talk later, I think we've got a little more of a problem on our minds at the moment than what happened on Satellite Five," It wasn't the truth, but I didn't want to have to think about this right at the very moment, "Come on,"

We walked out of the TARDIS only to find the Doctor passed out on the ground, surrounded by Mum and Mickey. Typical, we really ought to have known that they would have been involved in this, "What happened?" Rose asked, shutting the door behind her, "Is he all right?"

"I don't know, he just keeled over," Mickey said, looking up at us, "But who is he? Where's the Doctor?" he looked behind us as if the other Doctor would walk out behind us.

"That's him," Rose told them, looking down at the unconscious Time Lord that had collapsed in the middle of the Powell Estate, "That's the Doctor,"

"What do you mean?" Mum demanded, in her usual voice, "What do you mean, that's the Doctor...Doctor Who?"

For once, I had to agree with my Mum, that question was probably more poignant now than it had ever been since I had met him. He had completely changed and I didn't know whether he was still the same person or whether he had changed to the man that had taken me so far through the universe and shown me the wonders throughout time.

Who exactly was the Doctor?

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**Ahh so many question and so many things to think about. Onwards and upwards dear people and do tell me what you think about this like always. I do like hearing feedback and I will try and answer them...unless their spoiler based in which I can't help you there.**

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	2. The Christmas Invasion: Part 2

***Creeps in silently and then ducks behind the sofa when everyone turns to look* Hello I'm back, it's been rather a hectic month, hasn't it? Well it certainly has for me, I probably need to start my work earlier so I have more time writing what I actually want to write not about things I don't**.

**Thank you all for those lovely reviews you gave me for the first chapter, I very, very much appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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The Christmas Invasion: Part 2

"But who is he?" Mickey asked as we tried to get the Doctor up the stairs. Annoyingly, he was still unconscious and he was actually he was a lot heavier than he looked...not that I had looked. But he had said that his regeneration was going wrong and I wasn't willing to risk him getting ill if his change had gone wrong. Luckily Rose had agreed with me which is why Mickey, my sister and I were trying to carry the comatose Time Lord up the stairs towards Mum's flat, "How can he be the Doctor when the Doctor looks nothing like him?"

"I told you," Rose said, as we hefted him another couple of steps. Mum had run ahead to make sure that the spare room was ready for us to put him into, "He changed his whole body, at least that's what he said that happened. When we forced open the TARDIS panel..." she looked at me, "That's as far as I can remember," and that explained how exactly she had absorbed the Time Vortex, and travelled all the way back to where we were in the year Two Hundred, One Hundred, "He said that he had taken the Time Vortex and returned it to the TARDIS but he was dying because of it. And I haven't forgiven you for leaving me in the TARDIS," she added to me.

I rolled my eyes, "It was an accident, I didn't know that he was going to make the TARDIS return back to here, and believe me, I told him that it wasn't his choice to make," I informed her curtly, heaving the Doctor up another step, "And believe me, you are very lucky that you weren't there when the Daleks decided to invade, because it wasn't sunshine and daisies, thank you very much," I looked at her, "The Doctor returned the Time Vortex, but he did say that it was deadly, which is probably why he was dying. I'm not sure, but that power was very dangerous...could control everything. Could bring life, and death. I think that doing it again would be stupid,"

"So he's the Doctor..." Mickey repeated and I let out a frustrated sigh, "Sorry, sorry, Alice," he looked at Rose, "She hasn't changed much, has she?" I saw Rose hide a smile, well they seem to be getting on better than the last time I had seen them together in Cardiff. Maybe the world wasn't coming to an end, "So no more Big Ears?"

"Don't worry, Mickey," I said sweetly, "I'm sure that if he wakes up he'll still call you, Rickey," he shot me a glare, and I smiled back at him. I wasn't in a particularly happy mood because of all this, and Micky was annoying me with obvious question, I really ought not to have taken it out on him. It wasn't his fault that all of this had been happening, "Tell me how exactly did you manage to force open the TARDIS console, because I'm fairly sure that your Mini wouldn't possibly get anything open...I am right in thinking that you used a car?"

Rose coughed slightly, "Mum leant us a big yellow truck," she explained to me, and I was slightly taken aback, "Borrowed it from Rodrigo from down the road, we coupled it to the console and Mickey drove it. It worked like a charm, except I can't remember what happened next. I'm sure you will be able to fill in the blanks for me?"

"As much as I can," I said quietly, "I wasn't there for some of it, like you arriving. I was...delayed somewhat," she frowned at that terminology, "Let's get him into bed and I'll try to explain everything," I nodded at her and she watched me carefully, "Come on, there's not much to go, I'm sure Mum is waiting for us, and probably fussing over everything as well," she looked hesitant to accept that, "I said that I'd explain everything, and I will," I insisted to her.

We lugged the Doctor up the remaining stairs and through the front door, "I really think that the council ought to put in a couple of elevators," Mickey gasped slightly, as we tried to get the Time Lord through into bed, "It would have made all of this a lot more easier,"

I didn't say anything but helped lay the Doctor down in the bed, "I've got him some pyjamas," Mum bustled through the door, holding several things, "I thought he ought to be more comfortable seeing as he's all like that and really it ought to be all right, they should fit him," she looked down at him, lying on the bed, "He's a bit thin, isn't he? I thought that if he had changed then he would be the same size but he's a lot taller, and a lot thinner," Rose gave me a look but I didn't return it, too busy trying to get the jacket off of the Doctor. It's a lot harder than it actually looks, trying to undress someone, "He should go to a hospital, we don't know whether he's got an infection or a disease...or maybe he's dying,"

"Mum, just throw us the pyjamas," my sister told her and Mum reluctantly passed the nightwear to her, "We just need him to be all right, ok?" Mum threw up her hands in exasperation, "Actually, could you find us a stethoscope? We'll need one," I presumed that she was going to do just that because she left the flat, "Right...how are we going to do this?" we both looked down at the Doctor, "We can't just..." she gestured.

I rubbed my eyes, "Mickey...?" I turned to the man, "Could you...?" I gestured to the Time Lord and luckily he got what I meant because he nodded, walking into the room, as Rose and I walked outside of the bedroom. I closed my eyes for a second, before leaning against the wall, not wanting to shut my eyes for any length of time, "Weird being back here, didn't think I'd ever see the inside of this flat again,"

"I suppose you probably thought that you were going to die back there in Satellite Five," she remarked offhandedly, but I felt like I had been punched in the stomach with those few words. Rose caught my look, "What?" she asked me, but I didn't answer her, "What's the matter, Alice? Nothing did happen back in Satellite Five, did it?"

I opened my mouth only to have Mickey walk out of the room, "He's all tucked up in bed," he said to us, "And I managed to get him changed so he's in the pyjamas that your mother gave us," he stepped out into the hall, "Err... I better get off to work, need to finish my shift," he looked at Rose, who watched him very carefully "Do you want to go shopping later on today?" he looked at the Doctor, "After making he's all right? Though you might want to go and get some Christmas shopping done, now that you're here and all," my sister nodded and Mickey left the flat with a very happy grin on his face.

"World could come to an end and Mickey would still be happy if you wanted to spend time with him," I said to him and my sister shot me a look, "I don't believe I said anything out of the ordinary. I thought that you two were still going out together," I walked into the bedroom, seeing the Doctor lying on the bed, "I wish that he had more time to explain everything instead of leaving us like this without much information. I don't even know what medicines he's allowed to have. Might be some weird Time Lord thing that he's allergic to paracetamol or something like that,"

"We won't give us anything unless he gets worse," she stated and I nodded once, "Until then I suppose we just make sure that he's comfortable and not attract any attention to ourselves, that would be bad, I think,"

"Yeah, because that route has always worked so well in the past," I remarked to her, "Don't worry, Rose, Mary-Anne, we're just going to have a look around, maybe chat to a couple of people, because this time is completely and utterly safe and there is absolutely no chance of anything happening here," I looked at her pointedly, "Maybe I ought to remind you that our track record of staying safe isn't exactly 100 percent in that. We get into trouble more often than..." I cast around for a decent example, "More often than the Cookie Monster gets cookies," she looked amused, "It made more sense in my mind,"

Rose folded her arms, "Except it's Christmas," she said plainly, "And nothing ever happens at Christmas except Mum burning the turkey and Cousin Mo coming over drunk, and maybe Nan decided to pop over or the first time in months," she placed her hands on my shoulders "We're going to be fine," I didn't remark at all to that, saying that nothing would ever happen was just an excuse for something to happen.

Mum bustled back into the room holding a stethoscope, "Here we are, Tina the Cleaner's got this lodger who's a medical student," she explained to us, "And she was fast asleep so I just took it!" she hadn't changed much then, "Though..." she looked down at the Doctor still in the bed, "I still think that we should take him to a hospital,"

"We can't," Rose took the equipment off of her, "They'd lock him up, they'd dissect him," she placed the ends in her ears and listened hard, "One bottle of his blood could change the history of the human race," Mum opened her mouth to say something, "No! Shhh," surprisingly Mum took the hint and fell silent. I folded my arms, leaning back onto the wall before watching as Rose placed the stethoscope onto one of the Doctor's hearts and moving it onto the other. She nodded at me when she pulled it back, "They're both working,"

"What do you mean both?" Mum immediately asked.

"Well he's got two hearts," I said and she looked at me as if I was stupid, "What, he has!" she opened her mouth and I waved an impatient hand walking out of the room, "Just leave him alone Mum, he's not a specimen to boggle at. He's just unconscious like any normal human person..." Mum and Rose looked at me, "Even though...he's not...oh..." I left to go and make a cup of tea. Too many things to worry about at one point, and I really didn't need this right at the very moment.

Mum and Rose followed me, "Is there anything else he's got two of?" Mum inquired innocently and I shot her a glare, "Sorry..." she cast a look back at the room, "How can he go changing his face?" Neither Rose nor I answered her, "So is that a different face or is he a different person?"

"How the bloody hell should I know!" I demanded turning around to look at her, before looking down at the ground, "I'm sorry...I'm sorry," I apologised to her, regretting my angry words, "I didn't mean..." And I didn't, I didn't mean to be angry at her because it wasn't her fault, there had been so much that had happened over the last few days that I didn't know where to turn and the only person that could have answered my questions was tucked up in bed and completely unconscious, "It's been a bad...few days," I rubbed my eyes, "And I keep forgetting that he's not...human. And me and him were..." I trailed off, remembering that kiss, "And then he changes and I don't know anything anymore, and I knew I knew him, even just a bit," I let out a long sigh, "But the big question is...where did you get a pair of men's pyjamas from?"

Mum bustled over to the kettle, "Howard's been staying over," she explained and Rose and I shared a look which showed that she didn't know what she was going on about either, "You know Howard...Howard from the market?" Oh yeah, that Howard, "It's only being going on for a couple of months. First of all, he starts delivering to the door, and I think 'that's odd'...and the next thing you know, it's a bag of oranges..."

"Is that Harriet Jones?" Rose interrupted, going over to the television, and immediately Mum sighs exasperatedly like she had wounded her personally. But then I don't think Rose or I wanted to hear about why exactly Howard from the market was staying over, "Why is she on the telly?"

"Never mind me then," Mum muttered and I left to look at what Harriet Jones was saying, "She's Prime Minister now," I almost laughed with the realisation of what the Doctor had said to us when we had just walked out of the remnants of Downing Street after the end of the Slitheen, "I'm eighteen quid better off these days. They're calling it Britain's Golden Age," she smiled wistfully, "I keep saying that my girls have met her,"

"Did more than that," Rose grinned at the television, "We stopped World War Three with her...Harriet Jones," she turned up the volume, "What are they saying?"

_"That is where you're wrong,"_ Harriet was saying behind a podium, _"I completely disagree if you don't mind. The Guinevere One Space Probe represents this country's limitless ambition, British workmanship sailing up there amongst the stars,"_ I smiled slightly at that, she clearly was thinking of the time that she had spent with us hiding from the Slitheen in a cupboard, and know of the aliens that had been revealed to her. And now she was Prime Minister and could make it happen.

A man appeared on the screen, _"This is the Spirit of Christmas, birth and rejoicing and the dawn of a new age,"_ he said a strong Welsh accent, _"And that is what we've achieved fifteen million miles away. Our very own miracle. The unmanned probe, Guinevere One is about to make its final descent. Photos of the Martian landscape should be received by midnight tonight,"_

"Optimistic, aren't they?" I went to go and sit on the sofa, "I mean has anyone been able to land anything on Mars before?" they didn't answer me, "Ignore me then," Rose dropped into the armchair opposite me and I sat back, "I guess here comes the interrogation about what exactly happened back on Satellite Five,"

"You didn't come back," Mum told me, sitting in the other chair watching me, "Your sister came back to me and she's all right, but you stayed there,"

"It wasn't exactly my choice," I replied to her, "Me being left behind was technically an accident, I didn't intend that the Doctor would send us home right when we were in the middle of an invading Dalek fleet," I turned my attention to Rose, "I didn't want to leave anyway and I think that the Doctor knew that I didn't want to go. He was angry but I think he knew by the end," she only looked at me, "What do you want me to say, Rose?"

"Well, I can't remember so much of my memory after I opened the TARDIS up," she answered, "So I'd like to know what exactly happened up until I woke up in the TARDIS and the Doctor was dying and then changed his face," I leant forward, "And I also want to know where Captain Jack is because I don't believe that he's rebuilding the Earth, because you wouldn't leave him behind. What happened when I left?"

I looked at her, swallowing down the lump in my throat, "Everybody died, Rose," I told her, and she frowned, "Everyone died in that Satellite, no one escaped," I placed a hand to my mouth, swallowing down the tears, "You know what the Daleks can do, Rose, you know what they are capable of...and there were thousands of them, and there was no time in which to do anything about it," I thought back to what had happened, "And I could hear them over the speakers, everyone that was trying to give us a little piece of time...I heard them die, and all I could think about was that they were just an inch closer to where we were," I looked at Rose, "Jack's not coming back,"

She stared at me understanding what I was saying, "He's dead," I nodded, letting out a shaky breath and twisting my hands around in my hair, "And you heard it," I stared at the carpet, "And so everyone died there...how did you survive?"

I looked up, "I didn't," I merely said, "I didn't survive them, not the Daleks...I died there, I died on Floor 500 of Satellite Five. I didn't live through them," my hands started shaking, "And it was so dark...and so cold. There was nothing left for me there," I placed my hands to my mouth, "I died there, because no one survives the Daleks, and every time I close my eyes, I am right back there in the darkness and there is no one there except what is moving in the dark..."

"But you're alive," she insisted, and I looked at her, "You're right here..."

"The Doctor said that you had absorbed the power of the Time Vortex," I said slowly, "That you had the power of time basically...you brought me back to the living world. You could control life and death; day and night...you saved me from death quite literally..." I tried to smile but it came out a grimace, "And then I saved you, making you let it go, and then the Doctor saved both of us, returning the Time Vortex back to the Vortex..." I shrugged, "I don't think that there are any side effects to coming back to life. Just as normal as I always was...well," I smiled, looking at her, "And of course, we found out what the Bad Wolf was..." I gestured to my sister, "You created yourself, leading us throughout time, right to the right point,"

"I'm not quite sure what you mean," she said and I laughed slightly at her, "You were dead and then you were alive. I had the Bad Wolf in my mind and the Doctor changed his face to look like what he looks like now," I nodded shortly, before cracking up laughing with her, "Merry Christmas..." I could only really laugh at that before wiping some tears from my eyes, "Are you all right?"

"No," I replied to her, "No, I don't think I am, but I will be," I promised her, and she frowned, still concerned, "I will all right...as well as I can be, I promise," she still wasn't convinced, I knew but it was that I could really do to assure her.

Mum had been silent up until that point, "Well you could do something and go Christmas Shopping," she inputted and I looked at her, "I don't want you moping around this place especially with him in there as well," I turned to look at Rose, "So you can go with Rose and Mickey into town and get some food for us all for Christmas Day, because I've got nothing. I know the butcher in the market have got a bargain on offer and I need a turkey,"

* * *

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," I muttered, adjusting my scarf around my neck and pulling on my gloves, as we all walked down the high-street towards the market, "I've never had to buy a turkey before, and how many of us is there going to be? Do we count the Doctor even though he isn't awake...will he be awake for Christmas even?"

Mickey turned around to look at me, "Here's a twenty," he handed the money to me, and I took it, "Just buy a turkey that costs that much and if there is too much then your mum can always save it for later," I looked at the twenty quid, God I'd forgotten all about money in the TARDIS, we didn't generally need it most of the time, although the sonic screwdriver was always handy with a cash point when we ran out of milk. Mickey had turned back to Rose, "So what do you need? I've got another twenty,"

"Do you mind?" she asked him, "I'll pay you back," she got her twenty, "God we're all out of sync," I dug my diary out of my pocket, opening it to the last pages, "You just forget about Christmas and things in the TARDIS. They sort of don't exist. You get sort of timeless," she looked back at me, "What's the date for us?"

I shrugged, "Somewhere around the twentieth of August," I told her, catching a picture that almost fell out of the loose pages. I looked at it, my heart nearly breaking at the picture of Jack, the Doctor, Rose and me standing in the middle of Kyoto in the thirteenth century. That felt like such a long time ago when it was in fact only a few days. Maybe Rose was right, we were sort of timeless...measuring time in different ways to everyone else.

"Oh yeah, that's fascinating," Mickey's voice drew me out of my thoughts, and I looked up, "Because I love hearing stories about the TARDIS," he nudged Rose, playfully, "Oh, go on Rose, tell us another one because I swear I could listen to them all day. TARDIS this, TARDIS that," Rose scowled slightly at him, "And one time the TARDIS landed in a big yellow garden full of balloons,"

"I'm not like that!" Rose protested to him.

"And it was a red garden," I inputted, before looking behind me, feeling a creeping feeling crawl up my spine, knowing that something was going to happen. Something bad. I had thought that death would have probably gotten rid of the odd feelings that I used to have, but they seemed to have survived somewhat, and they were telling me that something bad was going to happen here. Maybe we ought to have not come out this evening because this was not the safest place in which to be.

"Just let it be Christmas," I turned back to see Rose and Mickey talking to each other, Rose looking slightly abashed, "Can you do that? Just for a bit," I placed my diary back in my pocket, my fingers brushing slightly against the fobwatch, "Just you and me with Alice being the baby sister at Christmas," I think that I had missed quite a bit, "No Doctor, no bog monsters, no life or death," Rose nodded, "Promise?" she nodded again, "Right, what are you going to get your Mum,"

We wandered around the market, my insides still not settling quite right as we looked around. Mickey was off talking randomly which I didn't really tune into instead just watching the people milling around. A tune started up from the brass band and I watched as they gradually made their way towards us. They made me feel cold inside and I turned back to say something to Rose only to see that she was looking at the band as well. So I wasn't the only one thinking the same.

And then suddenly everything exploded and I was pulled behind the market stall seeing that the Father Christmas' instruments had turned into flamethrowers, "It's us," Rose hissed at Mickey, "They're after us!"

Told you...never say that nothing ever happened at Christmas.

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**So what do people think. If you haven't all disappeared that is?**

**:)**


	3. The Christmas Invasion: Part 3

**Here I am again! and back with a brand new chapter, well I would, wouldn't I? Did everyone see the new series? Or the beginning of the new Series? I loved it, which is actually rather odd for me because I usually take a bit of time getting used to a new companion.**

**Its probably because we've seen Clara twice before, but still.**

**Thank you all for your lovely lovely reviews from grapejuice101, sailormajinmoon, dream lighting, DragonRose4, skidney, and the GirlWhoImagined. Loved every single word that you gave me. And I'm getting better with punctuality.**

**Disclaimer: Wish it was but isn't, and is probably have no idea what to do with it if owned it.**

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The Christmas Invasion: Part 3

We all quickly bundled ourselves into the nearest taxi that pulled up. They were probably wanting to get out of the area as quickly as possible with the maniac Santa's that were prowling around, "Powell Estate," I instructed the driver who drove off rapidly. I sat back on one of the folding chairs watching the other two occupants of the taxi, "You know who they're after," I told Rose and she nodded, "They're after the Doctor, because if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. They were after us, but we're nothing, nothing important except what we have right in our spare bedroom. The Doctor,"

"I can't even go shopping with you two," Mickey accused us, and I sighed, looking out of the window, not seeing anything. Maybe it was another alien invasion or something, but there wasn't any signs so far. No aliens walking around just yet, "And we get attacked by a brass band," I smiled sarcastically at him, not at all really happy about all of this, "Who are you phoning?" he asked Rose who had dug out her phone and had it pressed to her ear.

"My Mum," she said to him, "Got to warn her if there is something that is targeting us. She's all alone in the flat with the Doctor and to be honest, I don't think that she would be able to fight off a pack of Santa Clauses," she growled out exasperatedly, "Get off the phone!" she stabbed the disconnect button, "Probably talking to Bev again, I don't know why she doesn't just go and see her instead of talking all the time on the bloody phone,"

We pulled roughly up to the estate and I quickly paid the driver before we all legged it up the stairs, bursting into the flat, seeing Mum on the phone. I quickly grabbed it off her, "We don't need you on the phone at the moment," I told Mum who looked very pissed off. I placed the phone to my ear, "Hello?" I heard Bev babble back, "Yeah, hi Bev, it's really not a good time, whatever my mother wants, you'll have to phone her back because this is really important," I ended the call with Bev in mid-sentence, "Right, this flat ain't safe so we've got to get out of here and the TARDIS probably isn't safe either. Where can we go?"

"My mate: Stan," Mickey volunteered, "He'll put us up," Rose and I looked at him like he was an idiot, "Well he does only lives about two streets away, probably not such a good idea," I nodded at him, thinking that the Doctor probably would have told him to shut up by now.

Rose looked at Mum, "Mo's living in the Peak District now, right?" Mum shrugged, not really understanding the question, "Right, that's settled, we're going to visit Cousin Mo," Mum looked like she had a few choice words about that decision of moving out of the flat on Christmas Eve, but Rose shushed her and turned to me, "Do you think that we could leave the TARDIS here without the Doctor, they might try to get inside it. Or can you fly it?"

I folded my arms, "Well the Doctor said that it was almost impossible to get through the doors," I answered, "But I don't know, with him being like he is now, the defences might be down or something. I wouldn't want to risk it," I waved a hand, "And then there is the problem of actually getting him up to the Peak District, and no I can't fly the TARDIS," I interrupted her, before she said something, "The Doctor only told us what he wanted us to do but not exactly how to fly it independently, although it might be something that we might want to ask him just in case and..." I turned around sharply, looking behind us, "Mum, where did you get that tree?" Mum shrugged again, "That's a new tree, where did you get it?"

"Well I thought it was you two?" she pointed between Rose and myself, "You both went shopping, I told you to buy things, and there was a knock on the door, and there it was," she turned around to look at it, "But if it wasn't you two that got it...then who did?"

The lights on the tree suddenly lit up, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Rose muttered from behind me, as the separate parts of the tree started to whirl around, getting faster, and faster. This was one Christmas where we were going to definitely remember, "Come on, we need to get out of here!" she pushed us all towards the front door but I stopped in front of the room which had the Doctor in, "Alice?" she asked me.

"We can't just leave him here!" I hissed at her, "Come on and help me!" I looked back towards the living room where Mickey was trying to defend us against the Christmas tree with a chair which was getting rapidly shredded, "Mickey, we need your help!" he dropped the stump of a chair, running into the spare bedroom, slamming the door with all of us trapped inside. I waved my hand in front of the Doctor's face, "Wake up!" I called to him, and he refused to move, "Come on, Doctor, wake up!"

The others were rushing around the room, shoving the old wardrobe in front of the door trying to stop the Christmas tree from getting inside. I jumped over to the bed, trying to find the sonic screwdriver. I ducked as bits of debris flew over my head, hearing the wall getting ripped apart as the tree forced it way through the wardrobe with ease, "I'm going to get killed by a Christmas tree!" Mum squeaked in the corner. I hurried through the Doctor's jacket pockets faster, I had died by the Daleks, I was not going to have my second death or the death of my family by a bloody Christmas Tree

I placed the screwdriver in the Doctor hand, before bending next to his ear, "Please help me," I whispered into it, "Doctor, please help us...you promised,"

He suddenly bolted upwards, pointing the screwdriver at the tree which suddenly exploded into pieces. I ducked to avoid a piece of molten bauble, before sitting up, watching the now completely awake Doctor, "Remote control," he said, nodding, "But who's controlling it!" he leaped out of bed, as if he hadn't collapsed on us earlier in the day, "Ooh, I like this," he took the dressing gown off the back of a chair, pulling it on, "Come on," and promptly walked out of the flat.

We followed the Doctor out of the flat onto the balcony to look down below us where three Santa's were standing, one of them was holding a remote, like an overlarge one that you used to fly a electronic toy helicopter. The Time Lord held up the sonic as if aiming it at them and they slowly backed off before disappearing in a blue light, "They've just gone," Mickey said, stating the obvious again, and leaning on the rail, "What kind of rubbish were they? I mean no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off,"

"Pilot fish," the Doctor explained and we all looked at him, "They were just pilot fish," he suddenly collapsed and I caught him, leaning him against the wall, as he arched in pain. He looked at me, "You woke me up too early," he informed me, and I placed a hand on his forehead. He was burning up, "I'm still regenerating, I'm bursting with energy," he breathed out a load of golden light, the same that he had blown out when he was in the TARDIS, "You see?" he asked me, "The pilot fish could smell it a million miles away, so they eliminate the defence, that's you lot, and carry me off. They could run their batteries off me for a couple of..." he threw himself over to the other side, "My head! I'm having a neural implosion...I need..."

"Ooh, what do you need?" Mum immediately leapt onto that, "Say it, tell me, tell me, tell me!" the panic was making her go into overload, "Painkillers? Do you need aspirin? Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know, Pepto-Bismol?" I shot a look at Rose who gave me the same tired out look, she was speaking far too fast, "Liquid paraffin? Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?" the Doctor was trying to interrupt her, only unable to get in a word edgeways, "Is it food?" she changed track, "Something simple? Bowl of soup? Nice bowl of soup?" she clutched his dressing gown, sounding more pained that him, "Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?!"

"I need you to shut up!" the Doctor ground out at her, and I almost laughed at her.

Mum looked slightly disgruntled, "Oh he hasn't changed much then, has he?" she told us, and I let out a short laugh, which was quickly cut short when the Doctor fell back against the wall, grimacing in pain again.

"We haven't got much time," he said to us, "If there's pilot fish then that means that..." he pulled out an apple from his pocket, "Why is there an apple in my dressing gown?" he asked, frowning at my Mum, sounding completely calm with the question.

"Oh that's Howard," Mum explained with an apologetic shrug, "Howard from the market. He keeps food in his dressing gown, because sometimes he gets hungry," all four of us stared at her, "Well if people can sleep walk then some people can get hungry, I suppose,"

"What he gets hungry in his sleep?" the Doctor sounded genuinely confused by this but whatever he was going to say it was blotted out with a pain cry as he slumped down even further, "Argh! Brain collapsing!" he grabbed my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I moved closer, "The pilot fish..." he told me, shaking madly, "The pilot fish mean..." He pressed his forehead against mine, "I'm sorry, but something...something is coming, and you are going to have to do this on your own," I looked into his eyes and he suddenly passed out on the ground.

I stared at him on the ground, his words echoing in my ears, "Alice?" Rose's words shook my back to the present, "Alice, we have to move him," I mechanically did as what she told me to do, placing the Doctor back in his bed, before listening to his hearts. One had completely stopped, but the other one seemed to still be working which was small mercies.

The clock in the completely wrecked hallway chimed twelve, "It's midnight. Christmas Day," Mum said as I walked out of the room, sitting down on one of the chairs, looking at what Mickey was doing on his laptop, "Any change?" I shook my head at her, watching the screen, feeling slightly numb, "Keep an account of the phone line, Mickey,"

The man nodded at her, pulling up the Internet, "Here we go," he said to Rose and I, "Pilot fish," I looked at the screen to see tiny fish swimming along, "Scavengers, just like the Doctor said. Harmless...tiny," he pointed at the screen, "But the point is that the little fish swim alongside the big fish, and they aren't so tiny...more like great big sharks," he looked at us both, "So what the Doctor means is that we had them..." he showed the little fish, "And now we get them..." the screen turned a very large shark.

"And I'm betting that the pilot fish don't exactly swim far away from their daddy," I said sarcastically, blowing the steam away from my mug, and Mickey nodded his agreement, "Something is coming, the Doctor said. And I think that whatever is coming would amount to whatever Father Christmas decided to swim next to," I took a sip, "So, it's going to be close," I studied the screen intently.

"Funny sort of rocks," Mum said to us, distractedly, still watching the television which was still on about Guinevere One that had landed on Mars. I glanced over to the screen only to stop dead when I saw the 'funny rocks' she had been on about.

Rose got to her feet, "Mum, they aren't rocks," she said and we all walked slowly towards the screen, "That's an alien..." we bent down towards the screen and suddenly whatever it was growled loudly at us, making all of us jump violently back, "What the hell were they?!" she looked over at Mickey's screen which was still showing the large fish, "Somehow I don't think that this is a coincidence. Santa and now this?"

I moved over to the computer, bringing up another screen, "What are you doing?" Mickey asked me.

"Doing what we should be have been doing," I looked up at him, before opening up the military's database, and typing in the password that we had used when in Downing Street, "You would think that Harriet Jones would change the passwords on these things," I said to myself, hitting enter after typing in Buffalo, "We have to see what is going on because of this, you don't think that UNIT would be sitting around doing nothing when it's obvious that whatever that was on the television was an alien. I bet they'll be putting out a cover story right about now,"

"Give it here," Mickey took the laptop off me before typing rapidly on the keyboard, "I can work twice as quickly as you can," I poked him good natured, "Alice is right," he said after a few minutes of staring at the same screen, "Look at this," he showed us the screen which was of what looked like a radar, "They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast and it's coming out way," I shot a look over my shoulder at the Doctor tucked up in the bed shivering slightly. Were they coming for him? "They could be coming for anything though," his voice didn't sound convincing. He brought up a picture of the aliens, "Have you ever seen anything like them before?"

Rose shook her head, "No," she whispered softly, and then the picture turned into a video of the aliens speaking. I leaned forward waiting to understand what they were talking about only to look on confused as what came out was a completely new language, "I don't understand what they're saying," she said and I nodded in agreement, "The TARDIS translates alien languages inside our heads all the time, wherever we are,"

"So why isn't it doing it now?" Mickey asked us and I shrugged, not knowing what to truly say, "You think it's the Doctor?"

"Like a piece of machinery that is out of sync with the rest of the equipment," I said dully, "The Doctor's broken and so we can't understand what the aliens are saying to us," I stood up, brushing my hands together, looking towards the television that was now permanently on the news, "And we can't do anything until the military have received more information about the aliens, and that could take forever,"

"Says here that the spaceship is five hours away," Mickey inputted, "So we've got 5 hours until we know that someone's definitely going to do something," I flopped down on the sofa, "I suppose we ought to get some sleep before anything else happens," I rested my head against my hand, watching into the distance, "I'll keep a track on what is going on with the military..."

* * *

And so started what would probably become one of my longest nights ever. Rose, Mum and Mickey all dozed off at various stages of the night, but I couldn't get to sleep once. I didn't want to be sent back into the darkness and I didn't want to remember the screams of all those people that had died on Satellite Five. All of those people just killed so easily, and only the Doctor and me being alive to remember it, and I hadn't exactly escaped that unscathed.

I sat on the chair, watching the Doctor toss and turn in the bed shivering slightly. I tried to help him, but I was pretty much at a loss to really do anything right for him. There was nothing that he had told me that would come in useful in this situation. I didn't even know whether we could give him anything for regeneration sickness. We were stuck here, waiting for something to happen, waiting for that spaceship to arrive on Earth. There were only a few hours left until it would enter the atmosphere and something would have to happen. The military appeared to be incredibly ineffective concerning this.

"I wish..." I nearly jumped when I spoke out loud. I hadn't expected to speak, but I decided to continue on. There wasn't anyone around really, they were all asleep, "I wish that I had managed to speak with you after Satellite Five, speak to you properly about everything that had happened. That we had more time...I've only been with you a couple of months, even though it seems like years...it is years for me. Flying around everywhere in the universe, you showed me everything, well...nearly everything...still a couple of places that we haven't seen just yet.

"I thought that Satellite Five would be where I died and it was, I just didn't expect to come back. I'm not sure whether I wanted to go back, because I would have to face everything about living. And it's so loud here. But being there was infinitely worse because you weren't there. And that would have been awful," I looked at the ceiling, "I just wish that you had told me that this might happen, and I can't even get angry at you because you're lying in bed, being ill, and therefore you're someone that we have to look after. And I don't mind that, I really don't...I just don't like seeing you ill.

"We're going to have to talk about a lot when you're back on your feet, if I find the courage to actually talk to you about it, which I might have but then...I don't even know who you are..." I patted the duvet, smoothing the creases out, "I thought I did but then...you changed, and now you could be anyone, and I had so much to tell you...and I don't know whether I can anymore,"

"You really love him, don't you?" I turned around sharply to look at Rose standing by where the door used to be before the Christmas Tree ripped it off, "I can tell, Alice," I turned back to look at the Doctor, and she moved to stand next to me, "It's the way that you just look at him, like he completely lights up your world. I haven't seen anyone do that with you, not properly. All those people before were nothing compared to what happens when you just look at him," I only leaned against her watching the man in the bed not able to deny it. Not to her.

* * *

Morning broke with a shout from outside and now that everyone was awake bar the Doctor, we stuck our heads out of the door to see our next door neighbour trying to cajole her husband back into their flat, "Sandra?" Rose asked the woman, "What's going on?" she looked at the man, "Is Jason all right?" blue light shone around the man's head, "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know!" the woman looked distraught, "He won't listen. He's just walking, he won't stop walking!" she looked close to tears and we all stepped out of the flat looking down at the Powell Estate where more people were walking upwards, all with blue lights around their heads, "Jason? Jason! Stop it right now! Please, Jason, just stop!"

We followed Sandra as she walked after her husband who took the stairs upwards towards the roof? We walked after them, and climbed to where all of them were going. And then they stopped. All of the people with strange blue lights around their heads were going towards the roof's edge and then they all stopped. They just stood there, and as I looked out across what I could see of London, I saw other people standing on the rooftops, not showing any expression on their faces.

"What do we do?" asked Mickey.

Rose looked at the sky, "Nothing," she finally said, and I looked down, weighed with tiredness and a heavy heart, "There's nothing we can do, there's no one to save us. No one at all,"

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**So? What did people think? I have just realised that I did upload the chapter while were having all those problems with their alerts, as I've just remembered. My apologies if you had any problems in receiving the chapter.**

**Keep those words coming.**

**:)**


	4. The Christmas Invasion: Part 4

**So here is a brand new chapter. I'm starting to get back on track for these chapters :) and also I suppose it's a lot easier when I have such wonderful reviews about the last chapter :D. Thank you all very much for reviewing the last chapter, grapejuice101, The Terminator of Serenity (have to say, I love the name), sailormajinmoon, dream lighting, Ryn of Magic, DragonRose4 and skidney. It's always lovely to receive even few words.**

**Terminator of Serenity: I'm not writing any other POVs at the moment, but I am thinking of perhaps doing it maybe further one. Th only problem I would foresee doing the Doctor's POV is that I'd be worried that I couldn't write his thoughts to the best that he is.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

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The Christmas Invasion: Part 4

We all walked downstairs, numb flooding through my bones, as we entered the flat thinking of all those people up above us that were all poised on the edge of the buildings, right across all of the world, ready to jump on the edge of the precipice. And none of us knew what we could do in order to stop them from doing so. And that was probably more scary than anything else that whatever those aliens could do. They hadn't just gotten it over quickly, they were drawing it out long and slowly, making us frantic with worry over what they could make those people do.

Mum greeted us with several cups of tea which we all took automatically, "The news is saying that the whole world is like this," she explained to us, and I looked at her not saying everything, "France...Russia...America, all those people standing on rooftops ready to jump, but it only appears to be some people not everyone. They reckon about one third of people are standing on the edge," she let out a sigh, "I've heard from Cousin Mo, apparently her family are standing on the edge as well," she nodded at the television, "Harriet Jones is just about to make a speech concerning the crisis. You're just in time,"

I looked towards the television just to see Harriet Jones, resplendent in black, sitting at a desk, flags draped in one corner and a picture of the Queen in another, _"Ladies and gentlemen,"_ she spoke to us, her hands clasped together in the middle of the desk, _"If I might take a moment during this terrible time. It's not the Queen's Speech, I'm afraid that's been cancelled," _she looked towards the right, speaking to someone off screen, _"Did we ask about the Royal Family?" _the answer made her look down, _"Oh, they're on the roof," _she explained, and I looked away for a moment, _"But ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique and I'm afraid to say that it could get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm," _she took a deep breath in, _"But I have one request..._

_"Doctor,"_ I bit my lip sharply as she uttered that one single word that she had to just say, _"If you're out there, we need you," _my hands started shaking at her plea towards someone that would not be able to come to her help, _"I don't know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor, if anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him, the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor, help us..." _her voice trailed off slightly but I could hear the last words she uttered, _"God help us,"_

Rose burst into tears and I stood up, going over to her, "He's gone," she sobbed into my shoulder, "The Doctor's gone, Alice! He's left us!" I hugged her tightly, "He's left us, and there is nothing that we can do to help anything,"

I hugged her tightly, "We'll work something out," I told her, "We still have everyone here, we still have the TARDIS and we still have each other," I looked at her, and she rubbed her eyes, "When I was all alone in the dark, the one thing I remembered was that in life I was never alone. We're not alone here in the light, we've always got people to help and we can help each other, we can find out what's going on and we can help, like we've always done when we're with the Doctor," I was now trying to convince myself as well as her, "So we can do it, you and me, and Mickey and Mum. Nothing's happened yet,"

And then the windows exploded in a shower of glass. I closed my eyes briefly in annoyance, the world really wanted to conspire against me in this. I looked out through the window seeing that the glass windows in all of the buildings around us had also broken, "I think we need to go outside," Mickey said, looking at his laptop, "This radar says that the spaceship has entered the Earth's atmosphere. We should be seeing it any moment now?"

Rose and I looked at each other before running out of the door and down the stairs, out into the courtyard looking up at the sky. There seemed to be something that began to loom over the whole of London, and as I stared, a spaceship came into view, not like the one that the Slitheen had that could fit neatly in the Thames. This spaceship would more likely sit nicely in the North Sea, it was so much bigger, and so much more deadlier, and I knew that there was nothing else that we could possibly do to try and get solve this without any help. From Rose's panicked look, I knew that she didn't know what we would do now.

"Right," I surprised myself with the determination that my voice ground out, "Here's what we're going to do," I laid out the plan to Mickey and Rose, and they only nodded, "So we need to get the Doctor out of the flat and back into the TARDIS," I finished, before looking up in the sky once again, "And we ought to do it as soon as possible. Whatever those aliens are, they don't look friendly and they didn't enter Earth peacefully which probably means that they aren't so we need to get this over and done as quickly as we can possibly do it. So let's do this,"

We scrambled back into the flat, each of us standing around the Doctor, "So we've got to carry him again," Rose said, "Mickey, you take his legs and we'll take one of his arms," she stuck her head though the doorway to look at Mum, "Grab some food, get your stuff. We're going to the TARDIS, it's the only safe place on Earth now,"

"What are we going to do in there?" Mum demanded.

"Hide," I said plainly to her and she looked ready to protest. I waved a hand in her face, effectively making her shut up, "Ahh...no, this time this is what is going to happen," I said to her, "There is a spaceship that is hovering several metres above Westminster Abbey, there are aliens speaking languages that refuse to be translated and we are about to be invaded by said aliens, and none of us know what we have to do. Because travelling around the universe and seeing everything with Doctor has taught me that when you're at home, we're useless," I grabbed an arm while Rose and Mickey grabbed the other arm and legs, "So we're going to run and hide, and I'm sorry..." I looked at the other two, "We've got to move,"

We tried to carry the Doctor out of the flat, avoiding the sharp corners. I looked up at the sky seeing the spaceship still hanging up there in the sky, "Do you think that the TARDIS will be safe?" Mickey asked and I frowned at him, "What? I mean it's only a box and if they can smell that gold light like the pilot fish can then we are going to have a problem because that spaceship looks like it could easily wipe London off the map,"

"First time we met the Doctor," Rose said to him, as we tried to gently carry the Doctor down the stairs, "That plastic you was after us and the Doctor said that the hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through the door. I'm sure that we're going to be just fine," Remembering my words from earlier, i wasn't as confident but I didn't that this was the time to be pedantic. Rose looked past Mickey to see Mum struggling with multiple bags, "Mum, will you just leave that stuff and help us!"

"It's food!" Mum shouted at her, "You said that we needed food!" Rose just rolled her eyes and we managed to gently carry the Doctor into the TARDIS, well as gently as possible, he might have a few bruises later on.

I looked around the TARDIS, smiling at the inside. I had missed being back in here, and I suppose that battening down the hatches here wasn't terrible. There seemed a sense of queasiness about the place but that was probably just because the Doctor had crashed her not twenty four hours ago. Mickey was looking at the console, "I don't suppose you could fly this thing again?" he asked Rose, "I mean you did it before when you were trying to get back to Alice and the Doctor,"

"I know but it's been sort of wiped out of my mind," Rose replied, "Like its forbidden, I think if I try that again, and I think the Universe rips in half," Mickey nodded, "So this is as good as it gets, we stay here until anything happens,"

Mum walked through the door, dumping the bags down next to the Doctor's head, "Right here we go," she pulled out a flask from one of the bags, "Nice cup of tea," she passed it to Mickey, and Rose audibly groaned, "Now stop your moaning, I'll get the rest of the food," she walked out of the TARDIS and I sat down on the seats, watching the Doctor's unmoving face.

"Tea," Mickey chuckled to himself, "Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end," I brushed back a piece of hair, "Very British," he walked over to the screen that was balanced on the console, "So how does this thing work then? If it picks up television then we can see what's going on out there. Maybe we've surrender to them?" Rose sighed, walking over to where he was standing and clicking a few buttons on the screen, "How did you do that?" He asked her.

"I don't know, it sort of tunes itself," my sister answered him, and a metallic clicking noise rang out in the TARDIS, "It's never done that before," I walked over to where they were standing, "Could be a distress signal,"

"No," I shook my head, "It's not a distress call," they both looked at me, and I shrugged, "It's not mauve," Mickey frowned while Rose chuckled slightly at the memory, "Mauve is the universal colour for danger," I explained to Mickey, "If it was a distress call then the TARDIS would have put it in mauve," I looked towards the front door, "I wonder where Mum got to," I walked towards the doors, "She said that she was just going out for food, yes?" Mickey shrugged, "I won't be a minute..." I placed a hand on the door, having a bad feeling about what was on the other side. But then that sense of adventure that I had missed reared its head and I stepped out to see what could only be the inside of the spaceship that was parked above the Houses of Parliament, "Well this is new,"

"Alice!" Harriet Jones seemed to appear out of nowhere and into my arms, "Oh my God, Alice! I've got you!" I hugged her back tightly, seeing the aliens that had been on the television behind her. Oh dear...perhaps this was worse than I had first thought, "The Doctor..." She whispered in my ear, "Is he with you?" But my answer was interrupted by Rose's scream as one of the aliens grabbed her as she stepped out of the TARDIS.

Mickey, probably alerted by Rose's scream, came running out of the TARDIS as well, "Shut the door!" I shouted at him and breathed out in relief when he managed to do that just before another alien grabbed him. I looked back at Harriet Jones, "I'm sorry," I said to her, "The Doctor's not here, we're all on our own," and it was the truth, we were on our own because the Doctor wasn't exactly much help as he was lying comatose on the TARDIS floor, unresponsive and still going through his regeneration. And we couldn't exactly wake him up.

The alien started talking in his language. His helmet seemed to be off compared to the rest of the aliens, "The dark haired girl," a man with a palm pilot said. He was clearly reading off it, translating what was being said, "She owns the clever blue box," I frowned at that, I didn't own the TARDIS, but then I was the first one to step out of it, "Therefore she speaks for your planet,"

Oh really? I looked around the inside of the spaceship, "But she can't!" Harriet Jones said to them, and my nervousness just increased about tenfold. But then I supposed that someone had to do it. Preferably not me though, "They'll kill her,"

"We'll that never stopped the Doctor," I felt myself say, before looking at the man, "What are they called?"

"Err...the Sycorax," he said and I nodded, not particularly liking the situation. Rose and Mickey both vehemently voiced their opposition to the idea and I suppose that they had a good reason. It wasn't as if I was qualified for this at all.

I turned back to look at the Sycorax. I thought back to what the Doctor would say when facing someone, facing the aliens that always threatened to invade. What did he say... "I...err," I swallowed heavily when looking at the Sycorax, "I address the Sycorax, with all of the power of Article Fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation," that was what the Doctor kept mentioning, wasn't it? "This planet is declared off limits by galactic law," now I was just making things up, "I command you to leave this world with the authority of the Time Lords of Gallifrey," why was I using them, they couldn't exactly do anything, "And the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius. Now leave this world in peace!" I finished, wincing slightly, "Please?" The Sycorax burst out laughing, "Yeah, I thought that might be the answer,"

"You are very, very funny," the man read out on the palm pilot, "And now you are going to die," There was a loud commotion behind me, which I gathered was Rose, Mickey and Harriet Jones all putting they're protests out, "Did you think that you were clever with your stolen words," the leader hissed at my face, and I flinched back slightly. Ok, maybe I thought that it had been slinky clever, "We are the Sycorax, and we stride the darkness!" That was greeted with a roar from the crowd, "Next to us you are nothing but a wailing child! If you are the best that your people can offer as a champion then your world will be gutted..."

"And your people enslaved," the Sycorax said and I frowned at him. That sounded like English.

"Hang on, that's English," the man with the palm pilot looked up. Well at least I wasn't the only person who thought that. "That's definitely English," the others added their agreements into the mix, which made me smile slightly.

"I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile," the leader growled out, "I speak only Sycoraxic!" He seemed very sure that he was speaking the same language that he had always been speaking which spoke more than what was actually being said. Which was very good, in fact, a lot better than I had been hoping at this point.

I grinned at the Sycorax, "But you're speaking English," I said to him, "And if you're speaking English then that means that you're being translated to us," I turned to Rose, "Like pieces of machinery all working in sync," understanding dawned over her face, "And if all the pieces all work then that means that..." I looked at the TARDIS doors which opened to show the Doctor standing there, completely back to normal, "Well..."

"Did you miss me?" He asked and I grinned at the sight of him. The Sycorax seemed to have a different feeling about the arrival of the Doctor for he hurled a whip which crackled with electricity at him. The Doctor grabbed it in midair, pulling it roughly off him, "You could have someone's eyes out with that," he remarked to him, and I caught a glimpse of two piles of bones on the floor, "You just can't get the staff," he broke the whip across his knee, "Now you," he pointed at the alien, "Wait, I'm busy," he turned to look at us, "Ahh, Mickey, hello!" he looked around, "And Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North, blimey it's like This Is Your Life," he walked up to Rose, "Tea, that's all I needed. A good cup of tea!" he grinned to himself, "Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for healing the synapses," he turned to me, "Now, first thing's first. Be honest, how do I look?"

"Err..." I looked at Rose who nodded at me, urging me to answer him, "Well you're taller," I supplied to him, casting around for more things to say. What could I say? That he looked completely different than what he did before, sounded completely different to what he did before as well, "A lot taller, and you've got long hair...rather long hair,"

He leaned forward, "Am I...ginger?" he asked as if it was a very serious question.

I looked at his hair, "Sorry," I shrugged, "But you're sort of...brown," he looked disappointed, "It's a very good colour brown," I tried to amend for him.

"Ohh, I wanted to be ginger, I've never been ginger before," he walked away with a pout, "And you, Rose Tyler," he pointed at my sister, "Fat lot of good you were, you gave up on me!" I nearly laughed at the shocked look on my sister's face, "Ohh, that's rude," looked pensive, "Is that the sort of man I am now? Rude and not ginger,"

"I'm sorry," Harriet Jones inputted into the conversation, "But who is this?" She looked at Rose and I, "Sorry, I'm a little confused,"

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor told her, looking at the woman, and she looked even more confused, "I'm the Doctor that you knew, I'm literally him. Same man, new face...well," he thought a little, "New everything," she stared at him, clearly not believing him, "Harriet Jones, we were trapped in Downing Street, and the one thing that scared you, it wasn't the war, it wasn't the aliens, it was the thought of your mother being at home," the provincial light bulb appeared above her head and I knew that she realised that he was the Doctor, "Did you win the election?" He asked her and she nodded, grinning.

"If I might interrupt," the Sycorax growled out again, drawing all our attention to him, "Who exactly are you?" he demanded of the Doctor who merely put his hands in his pockets and shrugged happily, "I demand to know who you are!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" the Doctor shouted back in a mock imitation before sighting theatrically, "See there's the thing, I'm the Doctor but beyond that, I just don't know...I literally do not know," I swallowed at that admission that he wasn't sure who he was, whether he was the same as he had been before, "It's all untested," he started to walk around, "Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy?" he winked at me and I blushed slightly, "Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? A gambler? A fighter? A nervous wreck?" he laughed slightly, "I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob,"

"Not much has changed there then," I muttered to Rose.

"I heard that!" the Doctor pointed at us, before skipping over to a large button, "Oh and how am I going to react when I see this," he grinned at the Sycorax, "A great big threatening button. A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right?" the Sycorax growled at him, "Hold on, what's feeding it," he bend down to open up a panel, "And what have we got here? Blood?" he tasted it slightly, and I grimaced slightly, "Yep, definitely blood. Human blood. A positive, with just a dash of iron," he made a face, wiping the rest of the blood on his dressing gown, "Which means...blood control. Blood control!" he looked happy at that, "Ahh I haven't see blood control for years!"

"Is he actually going to do something?" Harriet whispered in my ear and I cast a look at her, "Or is he just going to keep talking?" how should I know? I didn't know who he was anymore, at least I didn't think I did.

The Doctor was still grinning, "You're controlling all the A positives," he stated, and then sighed as if he grieved him, "Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem...because I really don't know who I am, I don't know when to stop...so if I see a great be threatening button that should never ever ever be pressed...I just want to do this!" he pressed the button violently and Harriet and the man shouted out in horror.

"You killed them!" the man said.

The Doctor looked at the Sycorax, "What do you think, big fella?" he asked him, "Are they dead?" the Sycorax looked murderous, "You see they've got choice in letting them go. I mean that's all blood control is. Cheap bit of voodoo, scares the pants off you but that's as far as it goes," he leaned against the pillar, "I mean it's like hypnotism, you can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise someone to death...survival instinct's too strong,"

"Blood control was just one form of conquest," the Sycorax announced, and I nearly rolled my eyes at that, really what was the point of them trying to do this, "I can summon the armada and take this world by force," and here comes the usual threat. Really, what was wonderful about Earth that they all wanted a piece of it? There had to be other worlds that must be easier to conquer than ours. There might even be a planet that liked being invaded.

"Well, yeah, you could, yeah, you could do that, of course you could," the Doctor agreed with him, "But why?" Exactly, "Look at these people," he gestured to us, "These human beings. Consider their potential. From the day they arrive on the planet and blinking step into the sun," I shared a look with Rose. Those words seemed to be rather familiar to me, "There is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than..." He stopped at that "No, hold on. Sorry, that's The Lion King," I nearly laughed at that, "But the point still stands. Leave them alone!"

"Or what?" I didn't really think that the alien would simply back down, even if the Doctor had quoted Lion King at him.

"Or..." The Doctor considered him slightly before pulling a sword out of one of the other alien's hands before running down to stand in front of the TARDIS, the sword aloft, "I challenge you!" The entire amphitheatre of Sycorax burst into jeering laughter at him, "Oh, that struck a chord," the Doctor noted, "Am I right that the sanctified rules of combat still apply?" He asked the leader than had pulled out his own sword.

"You stand as this world's champion?" The leader asked.

The Time Lord shrugged, "Thank you," he grinned, "I've no idea who I am, but you just summed me up," I think it might just be a good idea to stand back at this point.

* * *

**And so moving onto the last part of the story in the next chapter. It seems so long since The Christmas Invasion was broadcast, I hoped people liked my interpretation of this chapter. A few words in the little box would be most welcome.**

**Did everyone see Cold War last night? I'm not going to give anything away but I thought it was very good.**

**Keep on smiling **

**:)**


	5. The Christmas Invasion: Part 5

**Hello! I'm back with the last chapter of _The Christmas Invasion, _which does actually feel quite sad especially as every chapter basically brings us closer and closer to the end of Series 2. Which is rather sad all around, although there are some brilliant episodes that I have loved writing about. So lots to look forward to._  
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**Thank you once again for all that decided to review on the last chapter. grapejuice101, skidney, dreamlighting, sailormajinmoon, and DragonRose4. All of you really deserve a special sticker as you've reviewed an enormous amount of times. :)**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine, although I do wish it.**

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The Christmas Invasion: Part 5

The Doctor stripped off his dressing gown and threw it over to us. I caught it easily, holding it close to me as I watched the two aliens faced each other, "So you accept my challenge then," he asked the Sycorax leader who threw off his cape, bending down opposite him, "Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?" Whatever the insult was it didn't translate and it also seemed to make up the leader's mind about whether to engage in combat with the other man, "For the planet,"

They started clashing their swords together in a fierce battle against each other. I supposed that they were doing it to the death and that was probably more scary than actually watching it because the Doctor had only just settled in that body and I had only just got used to him looking like he did now. Him changing again so soon would just make me even more confused than I already was about this whole process, "Look out!" Rose called as a sword cut close to the Doctor, and I winced as he stumbled slightly.

"Oh, yeah that helped," the Doctor told us sarcastically, running through the spaceship, the other alien shortly behind him, "Wouldn't have thought of that otherwise, thanks," he pressed an orange button on the side of the hull and light burst through, "Bit of fresh air?" he asked and the two disappeared out into the sunlight. Rose and I looked at each other before running the way that they went, followed shortly by Mickey who was just on our heels.

I was nearly blinded as I soon as I stepped outside the spaceship and I saw that we were simply on the shell, like a balcony for the aliens. The Doctor and the Sycorax leader were still chopping away at each other. The Doctor was knocked on the nose slightly, and he bent forward, "Doctor?!" I called, moving forward, wanting to do something other than stand there as a spectator, but he threw out a hand to stop me from coming any closer to the fight that was happening right there.

"Stay back!" he ordered me and I halted in my steps, "Invalidate the challenge and he wins the challenge," I nodded, stepped back to where Rose was standing with the rest of our party. I bounced nervously on my feet watching the fight happen. I had to look away when the Doctor was knocked back off his feet, and from the horrified gasps of Harriet Jones and Rose, I knew that whatever had happened afterward wasn't pleasant to look at, "You cut my hand off!" I looked briefly over at the Doctor and I could see that the hand that the Doctor had used to fight with the Sycorax was no more. He had no more right hand.

"Yah!" the Sycorax whirled around in triumph, "Sycorax!" he roared, and the rest of the aliens called proudly back.

I stared at the Doctor as he got to his feet again, looking rather pleased with himself, although why I had absolutely no idea. He had just had his hand cut off, "And now I know what type of man I am," he informed the alien who stared back at him, "I'm lucky, because quite by chance, I'm still within the first fifteen hours of my regeneration cycle," he waved his handless wrist, "Which means I've got just enough cellular energy to do this," and then just like magic another hand grew where the previously one had just been cut off. I'm sure that my eyes were as big as saucers but I couldn't tear my eyes away, "I'm a Time Lord, isn't that handy?"

"Doctor?!" Rose threw another sword at him and he caught it with ease, twirling it around with a lot more ease than he had before he had his hand chopped off.

"Oh, so I'm still the Doctor then?" he asked and we both smiled at him. He was the Doctor, even though he had a different face, but I knew that I still had to get used to it and all. Just another change in our lives, and believe me, in the past months that I had been with the Doctor, another change wouldn't be the biggest thing that I would have had to get used to. I turned my attention back to the fight at hand, "And do you want to know the best bit about this new hand?" He inquired, "It's a fighting hand!" And with considerable more skill than he had first displayed, the Doctor set about slashing at the Sycorax leader for several minutes before he jabbed the other alien in the stomach violently, making the leader fall back onto his stomach, "I win," he announced proudly, placing a sword to the Sycorax's throat, "But I'll spare your life if you take this champion's command. Leave this planet and never return...what do you say?"

"Yes," I hear the Sycorax say thickly as if it was hard to talk, "I swear,"

The Doctor stuck the sword into the ground, "Right we are then," he said cheerily, "Thanks for that! Cheers big fella," he turned around to us, and Rose, Mickey, Harriet Jones and I all ran towards him, "Not bad for a man in his jim-jams!" He told us brightly as I helped him with his dressing gown on, "Very Arthur Dent, now there was a nice man," I paused for a second before continuing on walking next to him, with a smile on my face. Arthur Dent had been a character from a book, hadn't he? "Hold on..." The Doctor fished around in his pocket to draw out a satsuma. I couldn't help but laugh at that, after everything that had happened today, "A satsuma," the Doctor marvelled at it, "Oh...right, that friend of your mother's. He does like his snacks, doesn't he?" He tossed it into the air, "But doesn't that sum up Christmas? You go through all those present and right at the end, tucked away at the bottom, there is always one stupid old satsuma. Who wants a satsuma?!" The was a roar behind us and the Doctor, without looking threw the satsuma against the wall, and the scream that echoed behind us, told me more than seeing what had happened to the Sycorax leader, "No second chances," the Doctor said, the smile quite gone from his face, "I'm that sort of a man,"

We walked back through into the darkness of the ship, "How are we going to be able to get back home?" I asked quietly to the Doctor, "Because we might have accidentally left Mum behind when we were teleported up and away to the spaceship when we tried to tune the screen into picking up the television,"

"Ahh, don't worry, they'll put us right back where we started," the Doctor assured me, "I just need to ask them, I'm sure they won't mind us using their teleport again," he might have been reassured but I wasn't. He had just killed their leader for starters, and that hadn't even happened five minutes ago. I certainly wouldn't be as happy with us if it were me. But the Doctor merely turned to look at the hordes of Sycorax as we stood outside the TARDIS, "By the ancient laws of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time," he informed them loudly, "And when you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet...when you tell of its riches...its people...and its potential...tell them this. It is defended,"

That statement brought a smile to my face because it was said so vehemently that I was assured of everything, I thought. Everything that had happened...the passing of My Doctor into this new stranger that sounded so familiar, and yet so different. I could live with this...if he still wanted me to be in the TARDIS with him...and if he didn't then that would be a hurdle to cross when it came to it. Right now I just smiled at the fact that all the problems were over...at least for this moment in time. There would be other moments where the Doctor would face an invasion or aliens trying to take over somewhere. But for now, the world was at peace and we had done our piece.

The teleport overcame me then and we were zapped down to Earth in a tingly sensation, I hadn't felt what a teleport had felt like before, and it was a good type of feeling, "We're just off Bloxom Road," Mickey informed us looking around the place, before laughing loudly, "We're just round the corner, we made it!" He laughed, but the Doctor held up his hand and we watched as the large spaceship carrying all the Sycorax flew away into the sky. Rose and Mickey broke out into cheers as it did so, "Go on my son!" Mickey shouted.

Rose jumped on his back, "Yeah don't come back!" She called up to them, "It is defended!" I grinned seeing them leave...another alien threat gone and not likely to come back if they had the common sense. Another entry into my diary as well, and my fingers brushing against the leather bound book reminded me that I had to dedicate quite a bit of time in writing up my latest adventures...the good and the bad. So much to do and it was Christmas Day.

I turned to look at the Doctor and Harriet Jones talking to each other, both looking rather serious, "Oh not just the Sycorax," the Doctor was seemingly assuring her, "Hundreds of species. thousands of them. And the human race is starting to draw attention to itself," he dug his hands deeper into his pockets, "Everyday you're sending up probes and messages and signals...this planet's so noisy. You're getting noticed...more and more," he looked at her and a chill asked down my back at the sight of the way that she looked back, "Better start getting used to it,"

"Rose!" I turned back to see my Mum running down the road, "Alice!" My sister and I looked at each other before running down to meet her for a hug. I pressed my nose into her shoulder, remembering the hug, I had missed her ever so much in the dark, and I knew that I would never take her for granted again so soon, "Oh my God, you did it, you both did it!" She happily told us, hugging us both again, "And I see he's better again!" She nodded to the Doctor.

"All I needed was a good cup of tea," he said grinning at her, "Healed my head! Back to normal!"

"I told you!" Mum squealed triumphantly, and we all smiled looking back at him, "Is it him though?" She asked us, and we turned to her, both me and Rose, "Is it really the Doctor?" Her eyes were caught by the sight of Harriet Jones, "Oh my God, it's the bleeding Prime Minister!" The Doctor opened up his arms and we all descended in a big group hug, all of us together, feeling like one great big huge family all together, at Christmas.

Then a roaring noise came from nearby and we all broke apart to see a large green beam flare up into the sky, followed by another one, then another. Soon five beams were firing up into the sky, and something exploded violently. I knew from the look on the Doctor's face that it had been the Sycorax ship flying away from the Earth. My ears were suddenly filled with the screaming of a million people, the people on the Satellite that I had died on, the different people that hardier that I had met...how was this any different from the way that the Daleks had ruthlessly slaughtered everyone on Satellite Five?

"That was murder," I saw that the Doctor was glaring angrily at Harriet Jones who looked back at him tiredly, "They were leaving, you didn't have to go and do that. There was no reason that you had to go and do that to them,"

"That was defence," Harriet said very carefully to him, "It's adapted from alien technology that fell to Earth ten years ago," the Doctor didn't say anything else, just glared at her, "You said it yourself Doctor, they'd go back to the stars and tell others about the Earth," she clearly looked like she believed what she was saying, "I'm sorry, Doctor, but you're not here all the time. You come and go. It happened today, Mister Llewellyn and the Major, they were murdered. They died right in front of me while you were sleeping, in which case we have to defend ourselves. This are the people that I represent,"

The Doctor just looked at her, "Britain's Golden Age. I gave them the wrong warning," he said calmly, "I should have told them to run...as fast as they can because the monsters are coming. The Human Race," he was getting angry, "And don't you challenge me, Harriet Jones, don't you dare, because I'm a completely new man,"

"And what does that make you, Doctor?" She inquired to him, "Another alien threat?" He bristled with anger at that, "I represent people, and I did it on their behalf. Britain's Golden Age comes with a price, like everything else,"

"And I should have stopped you," he said honestly, "I really should have stopped you but I thought that there wasn't a chance that you'd do something like that," he looked down at her and she stared fearlessly back, "You shouldn't challenge me, Harriet Jones, I could bring down your government in a single word...actually," he thought a little, "No six words...I could do it in six,"

"Stop it," she snapped at him before visibly calmly herself down, "You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I really don't think that you're capable of that,"

I stood there in the middle of the street, watching them stare at each other before the Doctor circled around her, and going over to the man that still held the palm pilot in his hand. He took the wireless piece out of his ear, and placed it in his hand. And I think I was the only one to hear what he said but I was sure that the Doctor merely said, "Don't you think she looks tired?" To the man before walking with us down the street. Six words. I took one last look at Harriet Jones, probably the last time that I would see her again, before turning my back and walking after the Doctor, ignoring the pleas from the older woman that echoed in the street around us.

* * *

"Right..." Mum immediately turned around to look at us before we went into the flat, "The world might have been saved but I want my flat back to shape for Christmas Dinner," the rest of us looked at her, blinking, "Mickey, I want you to sort out the food. Rose, you go with him, there should be still be some shops open...I know that there is the market still open so buy it from there," both of them nodded, not willing to argue the point, and they swiftly disappeared out of the door, "Alice, you can help me tidy up the flat, so grab a broom and start sweeping," I saluted her a little before going into the flat, "And you can have another cup of tea," she addressed the Doctor, "You've saved the world,"

"Oh, I can help," the Doctor told her, and I smiled slightly to myself as I grabbed a broom and started sweeping up the glass that was littered all over the floor, "Really, I'd like too,"

"Don't be silly," Mum said to him, waving a hand, "You're still in your pyjamas and you've only just woken up, you were very bad during the night, and you need to rest," well her reaction to him was more favourable than it had been when he was in his previous body, and from the look on the Doctor's face, he was also surprised about her change of attitude to him, "So you can have a cup of tea and put your feet back. The rest of us have everything under control, you just need to let yourself have a nice quiet day," No chance of that.

She bustled into the kitchen, jabbering as she did so about everything that had happened while we were up on the spaceship. It mainly consisted of her worrying and talking to Bev, "Well, it's good to know that some things don't change," the Doctor remarked to me, before sitting down in a chair, "I don't think your mother would change if I wanted to,"

"She wouldn't be Mum if she didn't do this," I replied to him, sweeping more glass into a pile, "Always insists on feeding everyone even if they don't want it," I looked out of the empty window outside. The streets seemed to be bustling with people again, "Weird that everyone's back to normal like nothing's happened. I mean you'd think that everyone would be at home worried for their lives, but no, everyone's acting like it's normal,"

"Well humans have an amazing ability to recover very quickly when something like this happens," he answered, "One of the amazing things about you, you just don't know when to give in and accept that everything's perhaps just a little bigger than you would have thought," Mum came in handing him a cup of tea, "Are you sure there's nothing I can do?"

"I'm sure," Mum insisted, clearly not having him do anything to work, "Alice and I can clean up just fine, and Rose and Mickey will be back with the food so there's nothing that you are able to do," she smiled before going back into the kitchen, "Although you might want to find some other clothes because I think that Howard might want his pyjamas back when he next stays over," I gave the Doctor an amused look at that.

He looked down at him, "Who changed me into the pyjamas?" he asked, "Because I was wearing my other clothes when I regenerated,"

"Mickey did," I informed him, "You were asleep when you got changed so you wouldn't have known. Lucky, Mum had some pyjamas for you to use..." I grabbed the dustpan and brush, sweeping up the dusty pile, "How are you going to get everything repaired in here, Mum?" I called through to the other room.

"I'll get Jim from down the road to repair everything," she answered, "He owes me a favour anyway so I'll get him to redo the place, and it won't cost that much," she looked in the corner, "Luckily we've got another Christmas tree to replace that one that tried to kill us, this one won't try and strangle us with the lights," I only nodded at her, dumping the rubbish in the bin, "Can I get you another cup of tea?" she asked the Doctor.

He put down his cup, "I'm all right, thanks," he said to her, "I better get back to the TARDIS, need to return these pyjamas," she only nodded at him, and he looked at me, "I'll get back for the Christmas dinner, don't worry,"

"Look at you, you've gone all domestic," I informed him, leaning on the broom, "You ought to watch out because she'll be getting you to do the washing up next," I nodded towards Mum who was tidying up the kitchen, "And then you'll never escape this flat,"

He affected a shudder, "Maybe I ought to make a quick getaway," he told me, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon," I only smiled at him and he left the flat, shutting the door behind him.

"You've got it bad," I jumped, turning to look at Mum with a raised eyebrow, "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," I returned to sweeping the flat with a vengeance, "It's the same look that I used to have when I was looking at your father," I rolled my eyes away from her gaze. This was something that I did not want to have a conversation with my mother about, "Like there is a light within the world and it belongs to one person and you can't help but stare at them in a certain way," I ducked my head down, "Don't try to hide it from me, Alice. I know,"

"Do you?" I turned to her, "Do you really know because I have to say that I don't know most of the time and that scares me a little. I don't know anything anymore, and that's all right," I stared at her, "He's taken me to worlds that are so extraordinary that I can't express what they looked like. I've been in so much danger that I thought that I was going to die, and I have done...I've been there, and I've got the t-shirt," I looked at her honestly, "I think that everyone falls in love with the Doctor, even just a little bit, and that scares me, just because..."

She smiled at me, "You're growing up," she merely said, "All I want is that you are going to be all right in the end and that you will always come back home," I couldn't say that to her that the TARDIS had become my home but I nodded to reassure her, "And don't forget me or any of us here on Earth," she came over to hug me tightly, "I've looked after you the best that I could, and although you weren't the easiest child, always so angry, and always so alone, I'm proud at what you've come out to do,"

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm an eighteen year old that hasn't got any qualifications or any job, Mum," I stated to her, "I dropped out of school and did nothing with my life for nearly two years, if that's what you're proud of then all right but it's not the best list of things,"

"Don't be sarcastic," she admonished me, "I am proud of you, you've gone to all those places, and you've helped save so many people," she placed her hands on either sides of my head, "Your Dad would have been very proud of you no matter how many qualifications you've got. He never had that many and we did all right," I thought briefly back to that trip and nearly laughed, "He's looking down at you and he would be so pleased at what he would see,"

"I know," I said, and she looked at me as if she was seeing me properly for what felt like the first time in my life, "I know he would be...I remember," I hugged her again, "I missed you," I mumbled to her and she must have heard me because she squeezed me tighter. I let out a shaky breath as we let each other go, "Merry Christmas," we smiled at each other, "Come on, let's get this flat tidy so we can have Christmas Dinner in style,"

And together we set about cleaning up the flat, and putting up the rest of the decorations despite the state of some of them which had gotten a little shredded in the attack of the Christmas Tree. Mickey and Rose came home several hours later, laden with bags filled with food, and soon the place was smelling lovely as the turkey sizzled in the oven. The heating problem was quickly solved as Mickey boarded up the windows with planks of wood with a promise to Jackie that he'd help put in some new windows as soon as possible.

The turkey was just about ready to come out of the oven when Mickey gestured me over to where he was standing. I looked towards Mum and Rose who were chatting to each other over the stoves and I joined him quietly, "You're going to leave with the Doctor as soon as possible, aren't you?" he said, watching Rose, "If he asks then you'll fly away as soon as you can,"

"Yes," I told him, honestly, "Yes, I will be if he wants me to," I looked at Rose, "Doesn't mean that she will be though. Doesn't mean that she will want to," but it was a hollow reassurance, both of us knew that Rose would most likely be coming as well, and Mickey knew that, "I'm sorry," I apologised to him, "When we went away for the first time, I didn't think about the people that were left at home. I didn't think that it would be that hard. It was easy for us to go away; it was difficult to stay behind,"

"Yeah," he merely said, "Well...you better get back..." he gestured to the room where Mum was bringing in the turkey, "We better go and help," I nodded and we parted to help them sere out the food onto plates and set out the crackers.

The door clicked open, and I looked up to see the Doctor walk into the room wearing something remarkably different to the pyjamas that he had sported for his first adventure in this life. He was wearing a long brown coat down to his ankles, with a brown pinstripe suit underneath. I also noted that he wore converses on his feet making him look casual. He grinned at me, and I smiled back at him, before looking down and helping serve the potatoes to Mum.

Christmas dinner was the most fun that I have had at Christmas for a while. Crackers exploded and the food was wonderful. All of us wore our cracker hats and Mickey made us all laugh with different impressions of people. Suddenly Rose pointed at the television, "Look, it's Harriet Jones!" she said and I turned around in my chair to see the woman that we all had walked away from standing behind a podium once again, "Says she's unfit for health,"

I took a look at the Doctor who was chewing on a potato, looking quite innocent as he watched the screen, "Wonder how that could have happened," I murmured within his earshot, and he turned to me, and I shrugged lightly, "And here I remember someone saying a long time ago that she was elected for three successive terms and was the architect of the Golden Age,"

"Time can be rewritten," he only said and I nodded, "Shame really...wonder where all those rumours could have come from," I chuckled, shaking my head, "What?" I didn't say anything, "I didn't do anything,"

I opened my mouth to reply and Mum came back into the room, "It's Bev," she announced to us, a phone in her hand, "She says to take a look outside," none of us moved, "I don't know why, just take a look outside," she disconnected the phone, placing it down on the table, "Come on, shift!" all of us grabbed our coats and gloves, running for the door, and down into the courtyard, to see what Bev was talking about.

I stared up at the sky, seeing large white flakes coming down from the sky. I tilted my head back, feeling the soft feeling of the snow, and smiling softly at the sigh of shooting stars zooming across the night sky, "Oh that's beautiful," Rose echoed softly next to me, staring at the stars as well, "What are they?" she asked the Doctor, "Meteorites?"

He shook his head, "It's the spaceship breaking up in the atmosphere," he explained to us, "This isn't snow, it's ash," I wrinkled my nose a little at that. So not so beautiful then, "But this is a brand new Planet Earth," he continued onwards, "No denying the existence of aliens now, everyone saw it. Great big spaceship over London, everything is new and exciting. Wonder what will happen now,"

I looked at my hands, nervous about the question that I was about to ask him, "What about you?" I said quietly, and he turned to look at me, "What are you going to do next?"

"Well, back to the TARDIS, same old life," he replied to me, "Why, don't you want to come?" I looked up at him sharply, "I thought...because I'd changed,"

"Well yeah, I do," I said, "And I thought...well that because you've changed that you'd not want me anymore...both of us," I added when Rose slipped her mittened hand into mine, "Cause you said that you were...different,"

"Oh, I'd love you to come," he grinned at me, and I smiled back at him, "Both of you," he looked at Rose, "If you want to," Rose just nodded at him, before looking at Mickey, who looked rather despondent about the knowledge that Rose was once again leaving with the rest of us.

Mum snorted, "Well I think all three of you are mad," she dismissed, "It's like you go looking for trouble, and you've already proved that bad things can happen,"

The Doctor walked towards her, "Ahh but trouble's just the bits in-between!" he informed her, "It's all waiting out there Jackie, and it's brand new to me. All the stars and planets and creatures and horizons. I haven't seen them yet!" he seemed positively excited at that fact, "At least not with these eyes," he came to stand next to me, "And it is going to be..." he looked down at me, "Fantastic," I smiled at the reminder, and he held out his hand.

I looked at it, remembering that it was the one that had been cut off, but I took it anyway, "So..." I stepped closer to him, looking up at the dark sky, "Where are we going to go first?"

He pointed in a certain direction, "That way..." he seemed to change his mind, and pointed slightly to the left, "No, that way," I pointed the way he was gesturing and he nodded.

"That way?" I said, before smiling, "Yeah...that way,"

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**So! Tell me what you think. Even if it's just a smiley face, I do like smiley faces.**

**And so Next Time: An extra chapter which isn't part of any story but ties up some ends that I feel need to be tied up. Kudos to twicesouffled for this. For without them I would have left them unresolved which is never a good thing.**

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**P.S. What did we all think of _Hide_? Not going to give anything away but it made me jump...several times.**

**Keep those smiley faces coming :)**


	6. Back to the Start

**Hello, back again :) Sorry, once again our beloved period of examinations has fallen on us again and we're expected to revise for them. Which is always a pain when for once there is such lovely weather in the United Kingdom (I don't expect it to last). At least I'm learning history so it's very fun to learn about. Witches in particular which is one of my modules. But here I am with a new chapter which is always good.**

**Thank you once again to those that reviewed. Virtual cookies to grapejuice101, dream lighting, skidney, sailormajinmoon, synismysin (did I spell it right?) and Linden-Furaito (I did listen to the song and I absolutely love it! Thank you so much for suggesting it, and thank you so much for your review, it was very lovely :D). Thank you so much for you all for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: Never Mine**

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Back to the Start

That night I lay in bed, trying to get some sleep. I was so tired, and staring at the ceiling was proving to be very, very boring. I just wanted to sleep, Ever since my stint with death, there had been so much to do. And yet as I lay here with a small light on in the corner, I just couldn't fall asleep. It was exhausting. Truth be told, I was slightly scared about falling asleep, not wanting to be in the dark, and what I would dream about, but also because I didn't want to linger over everything. There was far too much to go over.

After about two hours, I gave up, getting up, and pulling on my coat to keep myself warm in. I stepped out of my room, shutting the door, and shuffling over to Rose's room. I knocked quietly before putting my head into the pinkish red room. My sister was fast asleep in her bed, breathing deeply and I knew that she was pretty much knocked out. Lucky her. At least some of us could sleep easily tonight because the rest of us couldn't. I shut the door quietly, making sure there wasn't a creak in the door when I swung it. No point in waking her up.

I looked towards the console room, sighing before making my way towards it. I rubbed my eyes slightly, stepping out into the golden and green room. I stopped, seeing the leather jacket that the Doctor had used to wear. I picked it up, smoothing over the creases that were in it. I placed it to my nose, it smelling of the smell that the old Doctor always smelt like. Like the smell of a thunderstorm before it hit, "Where's Rose?" The Doctor asked me, popping up, and I jumped back, placing the jacket down on the railing quickly.

"Oh," I smiled slightly, gesturing behind me back at the corridor, "She's gone to sleep, rather trying day really," I looked away from him, rubbing my arms, before sitting on the chair, "The Sycorax, all those people on the roof...you," I stood up almost immediately and moved around the console, making sure that I didn't look directly at him. We hadn't really been alone since he had changed and all my insecurities had suddenly come back. He had said himself that he wasn't the same man that he used to be, "So...so Rose has decided to sleep after all this. Everything has sort of...tired her out,"

"I would have thought that you'd be sleeping," he told me, picking up a piece of wire and buzzing it, "I mean spaceship over London, looking after me in your mother's bed, which I have to say isn't the most comfortable bed in London," he looked thoughtful, "She really should do something about that," he seemed to shake himself out of it, "And of course...killer Christmas tree and Santa with a flame throwing tuba. Did I ever tell you that I love Christmas?" he quietened down when he looked at me, "But still I would have thought you would be asleep by now,"

"Too many things on my mind," I waved a hand, "Too many..." I looked at my feet, studying them carefully, "Too much to think about," he looked serious for the first time today, and I swallowed heavily, "A lot happened today and yesterday, and I don't know..." I placed my hands to my forehead, "I really don't know. It's a lot to take in all at once. My head doesn't really know what to really do now...because its all new and everything. It's going to take a while to all sink in,"

"The regeneration?" he inquired and I didn't say anything which really said everything if you thought about it, "You don't like it,"

"No!" I immediately denied, "No I like it, it's..." I stuttered a little, putting my head in my hands, "It's different," I finally clarified, "You're different, like I said on the Sycorax spaceship, but then you're not different and so very the same..." I looked at him, "I can't seem to make you out, but then I was never able to that even before. You're...you, but not,"

He frowned slightly, "I think that's a compliment," he said, and I sighed in frustration. I wasn't very good at putting this the right way, "But I can't change the regeneration back, you do know that,"

"Oh I wouldn't want you to change," I told him immediately, "I just thought because you said you were completely different and that you didn't know who you were that you..." I stopped talking, and looked at him, "And you didn't really change...not really. You're still you...and I didn't realise that before. You're still the Doctor," he didn't say anything, "Like I said, it's been a very long couple of days," I sat down on the chair again, "And you should have explained the regeneration process before now, just to save this trouble again. We didn't exactly expect it, to be honest. With you looking...well like you do,"

"What did you want to know?" He asked.

I swallowed heavily, "You never said," I stated, "Never even mentioned it to me or Rose," I brushed my eyes, "Never said that would happen if you get injured mortally or was close to death. We went flying around suns and moons and planets hurling ourselves into adventures and you never said a word about it...not once. I thought..." I bit my lip to stop myself from saying anything, "But I was clearly wrong about what I thought, and now I am with someone who knows me and I know him but he's not who I remember. I don't need proof that you're the Doctor, I need proof that you're the man I thought you were,"

"I didn't know it was going to happen," he moved closer to me, and I looked up at him, "I'd been in that body for so little time that I thought I would have years and years of time to tell you, I didn't think I'd change so quickly, not before I told you what would happen when eventually I'd perish. It's an important thing for me. I didn't want to leave it like that, I wanted to tell you everything after the regeneration but it went wrong, and you were left lost. And I'm so sorry for that,"

I nodded, "I was so scared when you...burst into that light, I thought that you were dying and then you had changed and then everything happened," I laughed shaking my head, "There was no way of possibly understanding what could have possibly happened. It was all too far and too fast,"

"It's rather a trend with us I think," he said and I let out a laugh, "So...everything's good in terms of my regeneration," he questioned and I nodded quickly. It would take me a while to truly get over it but I could make a first step, "Oh good, because I thought...well that you didn't like it," he sniffed slightly, changing the subject, "But you still can't sleep, can you?" I shook my head, looking away, "Because of Satellite Five?"

I shrugged, "I told Rose what happened," I said to him, "What happened to Jack, what happened to me and what happened to everyone else. It wasn't right to keep that from her, she came back to save us, and she did that...even if it did cost us nearly everyone else in Satellite Five," I swallowed, "And I tried to explain what happen to me and where I went, the darkness that was there but..." I could feel the tears welling up, "But she didn't understand, because how could she? How could she understand that I was dead, and in a place that I didn't know and with no one there to save me?"

"She won't," he answered, "She won't understand what you went through and she will never be able to because it's not something that you can understand, but something that you have to live through. I am so sorry that you had to go through that because of me,"

"It was painful," I recalled, thinking back, "Like shards of glass and I was being dragged over it, the shards digging into my skin, ripping me apart. I can't remember being in that much pain before, but it was..." I shuddered and rubbed my shoulders, "But I can't stop remembering them...the screams as the Daleks killed the people," I clarified when I saw the Doctor's face, "I can't stop hearing them. And I thought that going to sleep would help but it's dark when I try to sleep, and I don't want to go back into the darkness,"

"Was it dark where you went?"

I laughed bitterly, "It was dark and it was cold, and there was no way out," I informed him, clasping my hands together, "I was alone except what was moving in the dark...and there was a veil in-between me and my memories, like I was detached from them. I never want to go back there again," I looked up, "But then Rose brought me back...and now it feels like I've been hollowed out and then stuffed again and everything is topsy turvy inside me," he didn't look away from me, "Do you think that there are any other side effects?"

"No," he said but there was a moments hesitation before he had answered me. I didn't believe him, "You died, Mary-Anne, a Dalek killed you," he went on, "And then Rose brought you back while the Time Vortex raged through her head. Technically, that makes you...wrong," I frowned at him, "You're a blip in the Time Vortex, literally you are a paradox waiting to happen. You can't just die and come back. The universe doesn't work like that," he scratched his head, "But you had the Time Vortex in your head for a few short moments, which is probably why the TARDIS hasn't completely thrown you out," he patted the console, "She's a little queasy at the moment, but as soon as she's digested you then she'll be as right as rain,"

"Oh," this was rather difficult to comprehend, "But no horrific side effects...I'm not going to go insane or anything like that?" He only looked at me, "Doctor?"

He took a deep breath in, "No," he agreed with me, "Nothing like that," he bustled around the TARDIS setting her in flight, but my feelings told me that there was more than he was really telling me. But for the moment, I would let it lie...for now, "I know just the place to take you if you can't get to sleep," he changed the subject quickly, "A good memory," the TARDIS wheezed as she set off, and I clutched the edge of the seat as it rocked around, the flight being slightly more violent than I seemed to remember it being. With a shudder, the TARDIS stopped and the Doctor held out his hand to me.

I took it shyly and he led me outside. I smiled at the familiar sight of Delphi, the large flowers, the jewelled butterflies that still flew around peacefully, "We're here again," I said quietly, and the Doctor took me through the large flowers to the clearing with the waterfall. I turned in a circle, watching the stars up in the skies, where the only difference from last time was the heavy flakes that was drifting to the ground. It must have been winter as well here.

"Happy Christmas," the Doctor told me and I smiled at him, "I thought you would like to see this place again," I nodded at him, the butterflies flying around us, and I held onto his hand tightly, "Hopefully this can be a place where you can feel at peace in remembering...help keep back the darkness in your mind. I can't get rid of it for you...only you can do that, but I can help you make it bearable," I looked at him, before hugging him tightly, whispering a thank you in his ear. He hugged me back tighter at that and we sat down by the waterfall, the rocks trickling through my fingertips as I dragged my hand through it.

"Everything is going to change now, isn't it?" I asked him and he watched me carefully, "I mean...you've changed, that's one change, and I've seen the other side of death...if that was actually death or maybe it was just what I remember. I can't...really remember it all," I rocked back slightly, "And I suppose Rose saved us all really," I sighed, "Will there be any other type of damage," I asked delicately, "To her head? I mean she had the whole of space and time through her head...it won't hurt her?"

He shook his head, "All the power of the Vortex was taken out of her," he told me, "All that power that she had has faded from her mind. I know you told her what happened but in those few seconds, she wasn't really human. If she had held it any longer then she would have died,"

"But she saved everyone," I shrugged, "I suppose we can't argue with that. If you hadn't sent her home with the TARDIS them she's could have never opened the vortex to look inside to take her back. I think I'm getting this whole paradox thing now," I fiddled with a piece of grass, "On the Gamestation...I hugged Rose which took the Vortex out of her but you..." I looked down, "Well I wondered why?"

"Why I kissed you?" He asked and I nodded, "Why not?" I looked away, "Didn't you want me to?"

"Oh..." I trailed off, "No, I did, I just wanted to know...why exactly," I flopped backwards on the grass, "Oh I don't know what I'm saying," I grumbled to myself, "It always seems so much easier in books and movies than it does in real life," he laughed, "Admittedly nobody changes their face in books, so their situation isn't exactly like this," I folded my arms, "I just want to know where I stand with this. For us exactly. Especially considering that your face changed,"

"Has anything changed?" He inquired curious, and I looked at him before gazing as a cloud of butterflies went past, "Has anything changed because I didn't think so, but then I still feel like I'm the same person. What about you?"

"I thought that because you changed you would think differently," I answered honestly, "I don't ever really want to leave, Doctor, I don't want to leave you," the butterflies flew around, moonlight glinting off them, "I like being with you," I rolled to look at him, "What do you feel?"

He smiled, "Yes," he only said.

I sat up, "Was that a yes to my question? Or yes in general?" I asked him, frowning, "Are you trying to confuse me?"

He leaned closer, "Yes,"

"No, but was that for the first question?" I broke off before swatting him gently, "Guess I'll find out then," there was a twinkle of stars above us, "So where do we go from here?" I asked him, and he looked at me, breaking out into a smile.

"Onwards and upwards?" He inquired and I nodded, liking that idea. Always moving on then, looking back occasionally but moving onwards all the time, "Onwards and upwards then," he repeated, lying down next to me and clasping my other hand, "Like always. Never staying still,"

"That's not so bad," I mused slightly, "Sometimes it's better to do that...then stay still forever," I turned my head, "Sometimes I think that I have stayed still for nearly all my life, and that I've only just woken up, to see what the world truly is," he smiled lightly at that, "Am I awake now?"

"I believe so," he said softly to me and I tilted my head, "Oh I hope this is real," we both looked up at the sky, "So onwards and upwards then, moving on and never looking back,"

"Perhaps we should...at least only to remember," I hummed lightly, "But moving on...that's certain," we both look up at the sky, the snowflakes drifting down towards us, "So where are we going to go first, Doctor?" I asked him, "Other than here...where's the next stop in this so very big universe?"

The Doctor hummed, "I believe that we are going to go...wherever we want to go," he grinned, "So many places to see, so many things to do and people to meet, and adventures to run into. And I suppose a whole lot of running to do as well, we're going to be so busy...maybe we should just go wherever the TARDIS takes us,"

"Sounds good to me,"

"Anywhere in space and time," he smiled before suddenly digging into his pocket, "Although..." He pulled out the psychic paper, "Perhaps we might know where we're going sooner than you think," he showed me the blank paper which was suddenly not so blank, "Ward 26, please come," I touched the psychic paper, "Sometimes, with the right person, they can send messages through time and space. Like a text message, and it shows up,"

"Ward 26," I looked at him, "Someone's telling you where to go. They want to see you," I looked up at him, "Someone's very interested in seeing you if they're calling from across the universe," I got up from where I was sitting, "Race you back to the TARDIS," I bet him, before stealing the psychic paper and running out of the clearing, hearing him behind me.

I reached the TARDIS, before opening the door, and stepping inside, "Guess you won," I jumped slightly as I saw the Doctor by the door, "Although...cheat," he took the psychic paper from me, "We'll go in the morning, are you still tired?" I shook my head, "Well I have to do some work on the TARDIS, you can stay here if you want,"

I sat down on the chair, "Well then," I tilted my head, "Teach me then," he nodded, moving around the console, "Like you said...onwards and upwards, never staying still...it's not a bad life,"

"Better with two," he answered and I grinned at him.

Most definitely.

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**How do you like the chapter? I do hope to include more of these types of chapters as well, small little interludes between episodes so you lot have to tell me if I am doing well or not, or any ideas at all. Always good to get a second opinion on things.**

**And so the Crimson Horror was on this week which I loved how they shot the flashback. No spoilers, I promise.**

**Also Linden-Furaito has suggested a song called Her Name is Alice by Shinedown which I really love and thought I'd share it here as it really fits this story.**

**Smiley faces people.**

**:)**


	7. New Earth: Part 1

**Here we are again with the beginning of New Earth which I hope is going to be a little different, but we'll see. Thank you to all those that reviewed again, grapejuice101, skidney, DragonRose4 and sailormajinmoon. You guys really are one of the main reasons why I continue to write, so thank you all for this.**

**Sailormajinmoon: I absolutely loved the song, and can't stop listening to it.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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New Earth: Part 1

It was the start of a brand new day and I was standing outside the TARDIS watching as the trio of Mum, Mickey and Rose walked towards us, "Nice hair," I called out to my sister who waved slightly. Her long golden hair had now been chopped off at the shoulder. She looked good...a lot better than when it was long. I wondered faintly whether it was something that she was leaving behind her. Like the rest of this world, her long hair had been associated with our previous life not the one that we had now embarked on.

"Have you got everything?" Mum asked both of us and I nodded smoothly. I didn't think that I had left anything that had been mine in the flat. Everything that I owned was now in the TARDIS, scattered throughout the different rooms, "Be careful...both of you," she drew me into a hug and I smiled softly, savouring the feeling of being wrapped in one of her embraces. I wasn't going to let a moment pass me by on being with my family.

"You know us," I told her, drawing back, "We're always very careful. Nothing ever happens to us," I stated with irony, sharing an amused look with Rose, "And I am sure we'll be back as soon as you can blink. It's not going to be forever," she didn't smile at that, "Love you,"

Now it was Rose's turn to be hugged, "Don't forget to call Cousin Mo about that thing you were saying about," she reminded Mum and I frowned at her words. I'd have to find out later but now it was goodbyes all around, "Ok, we're going now...don't want to keep our designated driver waiting for the both of us," I nodded, "We love you," she kissed Mickey on the mouth, "I love you," he echoed it back quietly and I knew it was breaking his heart to watch her climb on board the TARDIS and out of sight once again, "Bye," she told him.

"I love you," he told her, and she nodded going into the TARDIS, "You look after her with everything that you can give, Alice," he said to me, and I saluted him a little, "Make sure that she remains safe while you're out battling sea monsters and bug eyed green aliens,"

"Gotcha," I agreed, "Nothing's going to happen to her on my watch," I opened the door of the TARDIS, looking back at the clear blue sky, knowing that I wouldn't be stepping onto this earth again for quite a while. I felt the sun on my face, and the stir of the wind against my hair, before stepping into the darkness of the TARDIS, shutting the door behind me, "So," I twisted around to look at the two by the console, "We heading off?"

The Doctor grinned at me, "Right this second," he slammed down a lever, and the TARDIS took off into flight, as I walked up the grill, taking off my coat and hanging it over the metal sides, "And we are off," he announced proudly, speeding around the place like there was no tomorrow, "And we are going to go further than we have ever gone before,"

"Good to know," I moved around the console, pushing the buttons that he instructed me to press, and helping out, "So somewhere good then?" he only smiled secretively, "As you wish," I tapped a button and then stood next to Rose, "Decided to snip your hair off then," I inquired after her and she smiled at me, "It looks good,"

"Perhaps you should think about doing the same," she suggested and I touched the ends of my hair, "Go back to your normal hair colour,"

"I don't know what you are talking about," I lied to her sweetly, and then clutched onto the railings when the TARDIS rattled around violently, "Are you perfectly sure that she's supposed to do that?" I called after the Doctor who only shrugged while smiling. We held on tightly as the TARDIS finally came to land and I let out a long breath, excited for the new place that we were going to visit, "So where are we?"

"Go and look," he gestured to the door, and I ran after Rose, picking up my coat and heading outside. I smiled at the sight that greeted me. Now this was very different to what I had expected.

We had landed on the edge of a cliff, but across from us was a massive city of skyscrapers that gleamed silver and metallic in the distance. Cars flew over us, in lines which was clearly reminiscent of driving lanes and there was a very odd smell in the air as the wind brushed our face, "Wow," I murmured, "That's very...that's very impressive," and it really was. It was like stepping into one of those science fiction movies that they always showed on the television. Like Back to the Future Part II, "So much for Platform One, and Satellite Five, this is really what the future is like,"

"It's the Year Five Billion and Twenty Three," the Doctor informed us. So we weren't too far off the end of the world then...my mistake, "We are in the Galaxy M87 and this..." he spread his arms out to gesture to the large city ahead of us, "This is New Earth," I frowned, looking at him, "Yep, it's definitely called New Earth," a flying car whizzed over our heads, "Not bad though," we all laughed at the sight, "Not bad at all,"

"Oh I love it," Rose said to him, "It's amazing, I'll never get used to this. Never," she jumped on the ground, "Different ground beneath my feet, different sky. It's beautiful," she smiled at the Doctor, "Can I just say, travelling with the both of you," she grinned at me, "I love it," I smiled at her before taking a huge breath in, "Although...what's that smell?

The Doctor swiped a few pieces of grass from the earth, holding it to us, "Apple grass," he explained to us and I burst into laughter, "Come on..." he grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the TARDIS and further onto the cliff, "If we had food then we could have had a picnic, but oh well," he dug in his pockets, "Although I do have this banana," he quickly ate it, "Bananas are very good for you, Tylers, always carry a banana on you, you never know what they could be used for,"

"Well you've just gone and eaten the only banana, so we'll have to hold judgment on that," I sat down on the grass looking up at the clear blue sky and the flying cars, "I wonder what it'd be like to be in a flying car, I think it'd be a little like being in Star Wars or something like that. Very cool," the Doctor and Rose sat down next to me, "So why exactly is this place called New Earth?" I looked at the Doctor, "Proper Earth...normal Earth, it exploded when we were on Platform One," I thought back to when I saw the Earth catch fire and dissolve into molten rocks and debris...scattered amongst the stars, "So why this place?"

The Doctor hummed, "Well, in the year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted," he smiled suddenly, "We had chips then," I chuckled remembering. That had been our first date, first proper entrée into the life of the Doctor. To start knowing everything that one could know about the Doctor, and the pain that he had suffered, "So anyway, planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on spread about across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up, yeah," he whistled, "They get all nostalgic. Big revival movement, and then they find this place," he sat up, looking at the city, "Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely!" he sounded pleased with himself, "Call goes out and the humans move in,"

"I think that the requirement of having the same air would be one of quite a big necessity, Doctor," I murmured, watching the shining silver city. It was exactly like what I'd thought that the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz would look like. Except silver and covered in flying cars. I still really wanted to drive one, "So what is that city called then?" I inquired, pointing at it.

"New New York," the prompt answer come back without a moment's hesitation.

"Oh come on," Rose scoffed, "That city is called New New York?"

The Doctor looked wide-eyed, and being all innocent, "It is!" he exclaimed, "It's the City of New New York," he thought back, "Strictly speaking, it's the fifteenth New York since the original...so that would make it New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York," now that just sounded ridiculous, but if it was true then I wasn't going to argue with him over that. He caught Rose's look, "What is it?" he asked her.

"You're so different," she informed him, smiling slightly, "But it's a good different I suppose," she nudged my leg which I in turn nudged her back sharply.

"New New Doctor," the man next to be proclaimed loudly, "Well technically I'm New New New New New New New New New Doctor," we both stared at him, "Tenth face," that prompted a cold shiver down my back. Tenth face, there had been ten versions of him walking around the place, all with different faces and different personalities and most likely, as this was the Doctor, different adventures. I would have to ask him if he had any pictures of his previous regenerations. Far too good opportunity to pass up, "Anything the matter?" the Doctor drew me out of my thoughts.

"Imagining ten of you in one room and remaining to stay sane," I answered distantly, and Rose snorted with laughter next to me, "I wonder if that could ever happen as well. Ten versions of the same Doctor go into one room, sounds like a joke that needs to be answered," I looked at them before before getting to my feet, brushing off the apple grass, "So can we go and visit the City of the Fifteen New Yorks which seemed so good to name it twice?" I stopped, "So does this mean that the city of York in England is now called New York?"

"Most probably," he answered, "But I thought we might go there first," he pointed to a pair of very large building that had a very large green moon painted on the side. Lines of cars seemed to be waiting to go inside and come back out of it, "It's some sort of a hospital," he informed us, "You can see the green painted moon on the side of it, that's the universal sign for hospitals," Who'd have thought? The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper, and I finally understood why we were here now, "And I got this," he showed it to Rose, "A message on the psychic paper,"

"Ward 26," she read out, "Please come," she looked up at him, "Someone wants to see you," she looked up at me, "And here I thought that we were just sight seeing for the day," I shrugged, not offering her an explanation, "Come on then!" she started walking towards the hospital, "Let's go and buy a bunch of grapes, unless you have some hidden in those pockets of yours," she shouted back at the Doctor who grinned.

"Off we go then," the Doctor mused, and I nodded before looking behind me, "Is everything all right?" he asked seeing my frown at the empty landscape behind us, "You look like you've seen a ghost,"

I looked at him, "Maybe I have," I replied to him, "No, I just thought I heard something..." I stared at the field of apple grass, "My mistake," I walked onwards to where Rose was walking to, "I'm sure that you'll feel right at home in there," I said to him, and he frowned, "Big hospital, lots of patients, right at home for someone called the Doctor," I poked him slyly, "Why do you call yourself that anyway? The Doctor?"

"I'm not sure," he said, "People just call me the Doctor," I raised an eyebrow, "I call myself the Doctor as well," I only raised my hands in defeat, I wasn't going to truly push it, still I couldn't think of calling him any different than what he actually was. He was the Doctor to me and I'd just find it odd if we had to call him something else, "And I don't actually like hospitals very much," he announced to us just as we walked through the doors of the hospital, "Just like people don't like snakes or planes, I don't like hospitals,"

"Bit rich coming from you," Rose said, having joined us again, "The Doctor doesn't like hospitals," she peered act him, "Are you a Doctor of Medicine?"

He sniffed, "I'm a Doctor of everything," he said to her, and we both looked slightly amused, "Nine hundred years, I think I've picked up quite a few little bits and pieces here and there. And I can't help it, I just don't like hospitals, they give me the creeps. They're all sterile and unfriendly and disconnected. I like to talk to people and I like running in corridors. Hospitals don't,"

I gazed around the hospital. It was very white and clinical with what looked like no stains at all. Women in white clothes with veils passed us smoothly and without a sound it seemed. All very professional, "The Pleasure Gardens will now take visitors that carry blue and green identification cards," the P.A. sounded out and I looked up at the ceiling, "Visitors are reminded that cuttings from the garden are not permitted," so in other words, not much had changed through the NHS.

"There's no shop," the Doctor said, looking around and I turned towards him, "I like a little shop," he probably liked buying everything possible in the shop. I looked around carefully, there was something not right with this place...I don't know why but there was this little...sense that something in this hospital wasn't as it ought to be. Like someone hiding a secret that they don't want anyone else to find out, but it was far too big a secret for one person to have.

"It's very smart," Rose said, "Not exactly NHS though," she sighed, "I thought this far in the future they would have cured everything,"

"Ouch," I hissed suddenly, placing a hand to my head, and both Rose and the Doctor looked at me, "Sorry, headache," I waved it off but pressed a hand to my temple, "Sudden headaches, they're the worst, always so painful," Ooh, that was very weird, "Sorry, carry on, don't mind me. You were saying about the medicines and diseases..."

The Doctor nodded, "Well, the human race has moved on but so do the diseases. It's a never ending war against them," I suddenly noticed one of the staff, and it was with the face of a cat, "Now, don't stare," he nudged me and I looked at him, "Think of what you look like to them. All pink and black. And cats are very clean animals after all. Dogs would be of no use whatsoever," he pointedly delightedly at a blank space, "That's where I'd put a little shop, right there," he walked off, towards the lifts, Rose close by, "Ward 26, thanks!"

I quickly ran towards the elevator, "Hold it!" I called but was too late, the doors had already shut and my sister and the Doctor, "Don't worry, there's another one," I called through the door. There was a mumble from the other side, "The what?" another mumble, "I can't hear you, I guess I'll find out," I sighed before heading into the next lift, "Ward 26, thank you!" the doors closed on me and the lift started to descend.

"Stage One: Disinfection," the P.A. announced in a clear voice. I frowned. What the hell did that mean?

Then I was suddenly drenched in freezing cold water. I couldn't help but shriek at the sudden cold water and patted the walls in the attempt to try and turn off the cold water that soaked through my clothing. Fantastic. After the water had finally stopped, I let out a sigh, before flinching when a large puff of powder completely covered me, sticking to my face from the wet water. I just stood there when hot air blew around me, drying all my clothing. This was just trying to annoy me now. The doors opened to show a darkened wall and I stepped out of the lift to see a very grimy corridor.

"The human child is clean," I turned to see a man standing in white overalls. I stared at him, he seemed to have man tattoos on his face. I opened my mouth to ask him something but was quickly cut off when he suddenly spoke again, "This way Alice Tyler,"

I took a step back. How had he known my name? The man walked off and I quickly picked up a metal rod that would be easy to defend myself with. I didn't want to have to hurt him but I wasn't all together sure on how he knew my name, and my track record wasn't brilliant. And judging by the decor, I would say that I wasn't exactly in Ward 26. Any hospital that looked like this really needed to be closed down.

And my head still thrummed with a headache.

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**So here it is, the first chapter of this story, please tell me what you think. I really like knowing what people think of the chapter.**

**And who saw Nightmare in Silver? Made me jump a few times, and I'm really not sure whether I want next week to come quickly or slowly. End of Season 7, but then the 50th anniversary looks really good as well.**

**So long, and drop us a word.**

**:)**


	8. New Earth: Part 2

**Righty, here's the next chapter. Sorry for all those that didn't manage to see the last chapter, the server thing was down for me, and it took several tries for the alert to come through. Not very helpful, I didn't get Email Alerts for about three days, which probably ought to tell me that I should really wait until I know that the alerts are working before posting another chapter. But here we are, and here's a new chapter.**

**Also I've finally finished all my first year exams so I have a lot more time to write happily on this. Which is good for everyone involved I think. And I don't always have to panic that I really ought to be revising.**

**Thank you once again to Sailormajinmoon, skidney and DragonRose4 for reviewing the last chapter. I hope this chapter will help reveal something more. And as always, if anyone has any questions regarding this story or anything in it, please state it. I always love listening to what people have to say.**

**Either way we shall press on with this chapter and I will update soon. I think my updating standards are getting a lot better if I do say so myself.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who then I would bring the season finale closer than Saturday because I really can't wait to watch it.**

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New Earth: Part 2

I walked slowly down the hallway, gripping the metal rod tightly, and not liking this whole situation one bit. I could hear laughter coming from the room in front of me and I tilted my head, staring at the flickering light that came through the door. I couldn't see that man that had disappeared down the corridor anywhere. Although I didn't particularly count that as any type of negative bonus, I did like to know where people were. Just incase he decided to jump on me and frighten me half to death. And what was it with him knowing my name?

I entered the room, seeing that it looked like a dumping ground for pieces of medical equipment that weren't being used. Tubing and bits of broken mirror were also strewn around as well. I leant the metal rod against the wall as I looked through a box. Nothing of very much value at all, I thought and this definitely wasn't a ward of the hospital. I also wanted to get out of here as quickly as it was possible. To go and find Rose and the Doctor before anything else decided to go wrong for me today.

There was a sudden laugh and I looked up to see a video being projected onto a wall. So someone did live in this basement. There was a feeling of sick anxiety as I stood in front of the video watching it. The main attraction seemed to be a blonde, very curvaceous woman, who was very beautiful. I thought she was attractive in a way...but she seemed to be one of those very glamorous women that had the revolting personality to match it. Perhaps less attractive.

"I mean, you're never going to know to know what your life is going to turn out to be like, ever," she announced proudly on the screen and I frowned, that cold feeling settling in my stomach once again. That voice definitely rang a bell with me somewhere, "I'm bored with this drink," she shoved the glass in front of the waiters nose rudely. I folded my arms, staring at the screen, "Now anyways, hello darling," she cooed to one of the men standing by, and I suddenly looked up as it finally clicked in my brain. I knew who this was, "Now stop it, that simply isn't true!"

"But that's impossible," I muttered, before looking around behind me, seeing the trampoline once again in front of me, "You're supposed to be dead, Cassandra," I told her, picking up the metal rod, "What are you doing being alive again? I am fairly sure no one would want to bring you back alive in one piece," I saw the creepy man again and I held up the rod, "Now, don't you come anywhere near me, Cassandra,"

"What am I going to do to you?" the transparent piece of skin snarled at me, "Flap you to death?" I folded my arms, shooting a pointed look at her companion, "Don't worry about him, that's just Chip, he's my little pet that I keep around with me,"

"I worship the mistress!" Chip moved forward, proudly boasting it to me. I only folded my arms, if he wanted to live with a bitchy trampoline that tried to kill hundreds of people then that was perfectly fine with me. I wasn't going to stop him.

Cassandra sighed, "Moisturise me, moisturise me," she ordered him, and he started spraying her with a squeezy bottle. I guess she had to downsize a lot after she had killed people on Platform One, "He's not even a proper life force, he's a force grown clone," hat sounded revolting, "I modelled him on my favourite pattern," I guess that explained the odd tattoos that the man had on his skin, "But he's so faithful, and tends to my physical needs, but then hello again, Alice," I looked into the blue eyes of the other woman, "How are you?"

"Rather confused to how you are still alive, Cassandra," I said sweetly to her, "The last that I recall of you, you overheated and ripped yourself into a million tiny pieces after bragging about how much money you would have made from everybody's death on Platform One," I smiled sarcastically, "I am therefore so overwhelmed that you seem to have lived through that experience to lure me down here in the basement of a hospital while my sister and others are above us,"

"After you murdered me," she retorted sharply, and I looked away, "Because that is what it was, wasn't it?"

"You know, if you had asked me just a couple of weeks ago I would have said that you deserved it," I informed her, "But then a lot of things happened and I ended up in many different places. Maybe you don't deserve death but I sure think that you served to be punished for a very long time, not here and not particularly happy either. You hurt a lot of people with your actions the last time we met," I looked at her up and down, "How did you survive, Cassandra?"

Chip leaped forward, "The brain of my mistress survived," he informed me, and I saw a brain bubbling away in the bottom of the frame that held Cassandra together, "And her pretty blue eyes were salvaged from the bin,"

"Yeah..." I answered slowly, "But that doesn't answer my question, you got ripped apart, Cassandra," I pointed at her, "Your piece of flesh dried out in the face of the hot sun, so how is it that you managed to get another piece of skin? Or did you...peel another load of people like you said before you decided to perish last time, because I have to say that's disgusting,"

"That piece of skin was taken from the front of my body," she explained to me and I nodded, "This piece was taken from the back,"

An unwilling smile appeared on my face, "So you are literally talking out of your ars..." I started, the urge to laugh ready to bloom out of my mouth.

"Ask not," she snapped, clearly serious about that, but I couldn't help but laugh anyway. This was far too funny to pass up. Her obsession with preserving herself had clearly gone too far if she was willing to literally be part of her back. It was also ridiculously revolting, she would have had to gone through very painful surgery, I gathered, to get her back to normal and considering that she was technically a murderer, I sincerely doubted that the authorities knew of her existence or her immersion into more surgery.

"The mistress was lucky to survive," Chip said to me, "Chip secreted m'lady into the hospital," I raised my eyebrow at that. The hospital definitely didn't know that she was here then, "Chip helps M'lady, steals medicine, soothes her," he brushed the back of Cassandra's piece of skin that was stretched across the frame, "He strokes her,"

"Yeah, Chip, you can really stop right there. I really don't need to hear anything that comes out of your mouth, concerning her," I told him, "She's certainly not a lady, by the way that she's acted at the very least," he gaped at my words, "Your mistress decided it would be a very nice idea to gather together hundreds of people on a space station, that she would sabotage that space station, leaving the shields down where a planet right below us was about to explode. Hundreds of people were injured and several of them died as a result of that. I gather that the authorities weren't so very happy about that,"

"I'm always so alone though," she moaned at me, and I shook my head at her words. I meant it when I said that perhaps death wasn't the punishment needed for her, but it would have solved a lot of problems, now that I thought about it, if she had stayed dead and gone, "Always hidden down here, the Last Human in existence, in a vegetable patch of mutant stock," her eyes narrowed at me, "Other than you and your sister. Who seem to have not changed in the last twenty five years since we met each other,"

I scoffed, "Are you listening to yourself?" I inquired, "Don't start that rubbish again, please, there are millions of people here, millions of humans," I laughed at her, "They've even called this place New Earth," she grumbled at me, "All they did was evolve, Cassandra, they evolved and changed like we are meant to. No life force in this universe is meant to stay chained up to the past. We have to change otherwise we're stuck like you are," I looked at her with a mixture of disgust and pity, "You stayed all pickled and preserved and really, what good did it do you? You're in a filthy basement of a hospital, stealing stuff," I looked down at myself, "And don't judge on appearances, it's only been about nine months for me since we last met. Short cut,"

"Ahh I remember that night," Cassandra ignored my words and focussed on the video that was right in front of her, "Drinks for the Ambassador of Thrace," I leant against the wall as her voice turned wistful, "That was the last time anyone told me that I was beautiful," her voice soured, "Then it all became such hard work," I refrained from rolling my eyes, it was hard to feel any pity for someone that obsessed with her image.

I shrugged, "Well you've got a lovely knack for survival, Cassandra, really," I informed her sweetly, "It's a miracle that you've managed to remain elusive from the authorities," I pretended to check my watch, "And now, I will have to bid you adieu, my friends are probably wondering where exactly I have disappeared to,"

I made for the door, "But don't you know what I've been doing tucked away down here, Alice?" I frowned slightly, the cold feeling flooding my body again, "Because I've not been idle, Alice, I've been listening to all that's been going on. The Sisters are hiding something,"

I whirled back around, "Those Nun...Cat...Nurses?" I asked her, and she hummed her agreement, "They're doing something that no one else knows about?" I couldn't help but take a step closer, "Like a secret that's so big that not one person could know about it?" I thought back to what I felt earlier, "The nurses are doing something in this hospital, aren't they? And the people of New New York don't know about it,"

"Oh, these cats have secrets, Alice," she confided in me and I pressed my mouth together, "Hush, let me whisper, come close,"

I folded my arms, "If you think that I am going to come anywhere near you, Cassandra then you dearly have something else coming to you," I smiled, "Now, I am going to be leaving here, you stay down here living in your...lovely accommodation until I get my sister and the Doctor here to say hello to you as well," I turned around, "Psychotic," I muttered before walking through the doorway. I froze when I felt something reach out and grab my hands, "Cassandra?" I looked down seeing that I was trapped in what looked like a golden energy field, "I can't move. Cassandra, let me go! What are you doing?"

"Chip, activate the psychograft," Cassandra said gleefully. Activate the what graft? I didn't like the sound of that at all. A blue light shone all around me and I tried to get free. I didn't like this not one bit, I wanted to get out of this right now! And on top of everything, I was getting another headache, "The Lady is moving on, Alice," the triumph in her voice was unmistakable, "It's goodbye trampoline and hello new body!"

She was not going to use my body for anything, "Cassandra, you do anything and I will personally make sure you..." but I didn't have time to finish my words as I felt something slam into me, and I felt myself tumbling over and over, landing on the floor. The world suddenly all turned...very dark.

Great

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I opened my eyes to be greeted by what looked like the TARDIS console room. I hummed slightly, at least I was in a place where I knew I was going to be. Maybe the Doctor and Rose had figured where I had been and had found my body sorted out Cassandra and placed me in here to make sure I was all right. I might have missed out on quite an adventure but at least I wasn't dead or my body messed around by the Human Trampoline. Any attempt at liking that woman had delved down to minus numbers. No one else had tried to do what she had done to me.

"Doctor?" I called out in the room with no answer, "Rose?" I walked towards the front door, trying to open it. I stared at the result. It seemed to be bricked up, "Right...I didn't think that would happen?" I ran quickly to the other door only to find the thing, "So we're not in the TARDIS then," I mused to myself, before going over to the console, "This seems to be working though," I tapped a few buttons, before pulling the screen towards me, "Come on...work," I hit it lightly and it finally it showed something to me. I stared at it, "But that's me,"

On the screen was the basement of where I had just been, and there I was lying down on the floor, with Chip standing over me. So I wasn't in the TARDIS, I was out there? Why was I in here then? There literally couldn't be two of me in the same place, could there? I sat back on the seat behind me, watching the scene unfold before me, as the other me began to stir and sit up, "Moisturise me," she whispered, and my mouth dropped open. That was Cassandra? Or Cassandra was me? "Arms...fingers," Cassandra seemed to be exploring my body now, "Hair..." she jumped up running to the mirror, "Let me see, let me see!" she stared at my face, "Oh my God," she cried, "I'm a chav!"

"Oi!" I shouted at her, "That's offensive!" she seemed to place a hand to my head, as if she had a rather bad headache, "Oh can you hear me then?" I demanded, seizing on that, "Can you hear me, you over grown trampoline, get out of my body! And please, get off your high horse, and don't call me a chav," Cassandra seemed to shake her head slightly. I hoped that she could hear me, because I wasn't going to let her get away with this.

"Oh look at me," she stared at my face, "From class to brass!" I frowned at her, not happy at all with her assessment of me, "She's very flat, isn't she? Hardly any curves on her at all. Not like the other one," I flopped back on the seat, feeling slightly disgruntled. Yes, I knew that I didn't have exactly huge amounts of cleavage to show off, like Rose did. Cassandra didn't have to point that out to me, "Although..." she giggled, "It is like living inside a skyscraper," Was that supposed to be a compliment, "Nice legs," well all was not lost then.

"Mistress is beautiful!" I heard Chip pronounce happily to her. I didn't know whether to be flattered or pissed off at that comment. Or was he just saying that because Cassandra was in my body.

"Absolument," Cassandra gushed. Oh she was now speaking French, and sounding all posh while she was at it. I liked my voice...my voice was good. If I could imagine speaking like what Cassandra was speaking like then I would be very tired, "Oh but look," I saw where she was looking at. The skin where she had been held was gone, "The brain meat has expired," she grinned, "But we're safe and sound and tucked away in here," she tapped my temple.

"But what of the Alice-child's mind?" Chip asked her.

I nodded with the question, "Yes, what about my mind?" I demanded of her, "Where am I? Why am I in the TARDIS console room. You better let me out, Cassandra, otherwise I am going to make the rest of your life a living hell, believe me! And the Doctor and Rose aren't going to let you get away with this, Cassandra?!" I hit a button on the console, "Can you hear me?!"

"Oh..." Cassandra drew out that syllable, "She's rather loud for just one little girl. I thought that she'd be tucked away but she seems to be giving me rather a painful headache. I can access the surface memory..." she trailed off, "God, but she's with the Doctor," I smiled smugly to myself, "That man...he's the Doctor. The same man with a new face! That hypocrite!" I rolled my eyes, "I must get the name of his surgeon, I could do with a little work," she stormed back to the mirror, staring at my reflection, "Although, I will keep the legs,"

"Oh, you do anything to me, Cassandra, and your life will not be worth living," I promised to her softly, "Because Rose is not stupid...and neither is the Doctor. They'll see through your disguise in moment, and wonder exactly what you have done to me, and oh your life won't be worth living, that I can quite rightly assure you,"

Suddenly my phone started to ring. I perked up, as Cassandra tried to extract it from my pocket, and stared at it. Oh I'd like to see how she talked her way out of this, "It seems to be ringing," she dangled it into the air, "Is it meant to ring?" she looked at it, "Must be some kind of communications device," If I rolled my eyes anymore then my eyes were going to fall out of my head, "Better answer it, how does she speak?"

"Old Earth Cockney," Chip answered, and I snorted with laughter at that. Despite what Cassandra had done to me, this was going to be hilarious to witness. Let us see how this was going to turn out for her.

"Mary-Anne, where are you?" I sighed when I heard the Doctor's voice, "Where did you end up? How long does it take to get to Ward 26?" he suddenly sounded excited, "Oh, oh, oh, guess what Mary-Anne, guess who we met up with? The person who sent the message on the psychic paper was the Face of Boe. Remember him?" I smiled sadly at that. I wouldn't get to talk to the Face this time around now that I was stuck in here and unable to do anything.

"Of course I do," Cassandra gushed over the phone, "That big old...boat race," I was a little confused at that, "But don't worry, I am on my way, guv'nor," I buried my head in my hands with her words, "I shall proceed up the apples and pears,"

"I'll see you in a bit then," the Doctor answered, "Just need to check something," and with that he line disconnected. Oh brilliant, now she had a plan, she knew where to go and where they were. This was not going to end up well for me. I was starting to really, really, hate hospitals, and not because there was something else going on here within the bowels of the hospital, but something else.

Cassandra was pulling off my coat, while messing up my hair, "This Doctor is dangerous and clever," she told Chip, "I might need a mind like his," she opened the top of my shirt, and I placed my head in my hands at her actions. Why was she doing this to me? "The Sisterhood are hiding something, something that I need to find out about. Oh remember that old Earth saying...? Never trust a nun, never trust a nurse, and never...trust a cat. Perfume?" she popped it down the front of my shirt, "I'm ready to go,"

Oh goody.

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**So what did people think about this chapter? Hmmm, please put a message in the little box below.**

**I thought long and hard about writing this chapter and how I could make it work...should I do it from someone else's point of view, or should I tell it from a normal perspective, but I settled on this one because I think it kind of fits, and plus I always wanted to know what it was like the person when Cassandra possessed them, so I wrote it.**

**Smiley faces people, we have three days until the end of the seventh season where I will probably mope around until the 50th anniversary. I can be happy that there is still one more week of Doctor Who.**

**:)**


	9. New Earth: Part 3

**Ahh so I am here with a new chapter. This one really had me a little puzzled because I had to work out all the perspectives and I was second guessing myself all the way though but no matter, it is here.**

**Thank you once again to that reviewed. Grapejuice101, skidney, DragonRose4, sailormajinmoon, and Taellynn, they were all absolutely fabulous :)**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately not mine**

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New Earth: Part 3

So here I was sat in the middle of this storm that was about to be brought down upon the almighty's head, or perhaps just my head as I watched Cassandra flounced upstairs to where my sister and the Doctor where no doubt waiting for me. And blimey, what were they going to find in replace of the normal me? A flouncy bouncy version of me that clearly wasn't me. And one that had forgone my coat as well. Did Cassandra not think of anything? I'd get better disguise tips from a hedgehog than I would her...and it was annoying.

She went through the disinfection stage with the air of someone that was born to suffer in silence. Was had been her full name? Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen...that had been it, hadn't it? I didn't even have my diary on me for that. At that reminder, I bolted upright at that, the bitch had dumped my coat which had my diary, my watch and my squareness gun all inside it! And she had left it with the creepy Chip. What if he went through my coat or something like that? What if he lost it or threw it away. I couldn't lose any of that stuff, it had all been given to me by people that had mattered. I couldn't afford to lose any of that stuff, which was why I always carried it around with me.

I settled back down on the seat, slightly shaking with nervousness, "I hope you're listening, Cassandra!" I shouted back up to the ceiling, hoping that she was listening to me, "You better make sure that my coat is safe and sound otherwise I swear I will give you the most painful headache that anyone has ever suffered through," I saw Cassandra rub her temple again, and I leaned closer to the screen, "I know you can hear me, Cassandra! You better hope that I'm nice to you about this, and you better make sure that coat is safe,"

She looked in the mirror in the elevator, "Now listen to me, darling," she said and I knew that she was speaking directly to me, "You will shut up with your annoying little monologue," I didn't answer her, "Your body is mine now and I can do what I want with it. I don't care about your junk and I don't care what happens to it, so if you want to remain alive then I suggest you do exactly what I tell you to do and be quiet," I scowled, "There...that's so much better already, isn't it?"

"Cassandra, I don't think I have ever truly despised anyone quite as much as you before," I informed her coldly, "Believe me, what is in my coat is mine and have quite a bit more value than you would have thought. And they don't all belong to me," I tapped the console, "And tell me, Cassandra O'Brien, how exactly are you going to explain to the Doctor and Rose what exactly has happened to my coat when both of them know that I never go anywhere without it because of what's in it?"

"Oh, I'm sure that I can bluff through it," she dismissed, "I'm very good at that," she waved a hand, "Now...shh. I'm going to go and play," she stepped out of the life with a breath, "Wish me luck,"

"Not on your life," I spat out, restrained to just watching as the scene unfolded in front of me, "Well you've certainly got yourself caught up with more than you could chew, haven't you?" I stared at myself in the screen, "You're possessed by a trampoline that has more blonde brain cells than Paris Hilton, figuratively speaking. Advice Number One: Never ever go alone again, always use the stairs and never follow a creepy looking man in what is definitely not any type of hospital ward,"

I smiled sadly when I saw both Rose and the Doctor turn and smile when Cassandra walked into the ward, "So sorry I'm late," she said to both of them, "Found myself in the outpatients department by accident and it took a while to get back here. Guess I'm not too good at the elevator here," she shrugged, "Oh, and I left my coat at reception, got a bit ruined by the disinfectant," I had to admit to myself, she was rather good at breezing her way past all of the problems. The Doctor and Rose seemed to accept it although Rose looked at Cassandra a little oddly.

"Never mind, come and look at these patients," the Doctor grabbed Cassandra dragging her over to a bright red patient, "Marconi's disease," he explained, "It should take years and years to recover from it. Almost deadly, but he's been in here for two days and he's fine. I've never seen anything like it, they've invented a cell washing cascade. It's amazing," he looked down at her, "Their medical science is way advanced," Cassandra probably didn't understand that phrase but I knew. The Sisterhood of Nun Cat Nurses had medical knowledge that was too far ahead for them in the future. I sighed as the Doctor moved onto another patient, not noticing Cassandra's lack of reaction, "And here's another one..." he placed her in front of pasty white man, "Pallidome Pancrosis, it kills you in ten minutes and he's fine,"

"He's being going through all the patients in this entire ward," Rose told Cassandra who smiled at her stiffly, "Trying to find out what's exactly in all of the sachets, the Sisters aren't being very helpful towards him. Won't tell him the solution, it's all very frustrating for him," she looked at me, "Are you all right, Alice? I would have thought that you'd had kept your coat with you, and the rest of your stuff," Rose elbowed her a little.

"What?" Cassandra asked her, before shaking her head, "Oh...no, no pockets," she smiled again, "Thought it'd be better to leave it with the Sisters, they'll give it back when we leave here," Rose frowned again, "I'm just mucking around, Rose,"

Rose didn't seem to buy it, "You don't mess around, Alice," she answered her, and I perked up from my seat at that, Rose definitely knew that something wasn't right in this world"You always remain serious in these types of situation,"

"Well it's only a couple of diseases that seem to have been miraculously cured," Cassandra dismissed, "It's not the end of the world for example, people haven't died," she had to just go and throw that in there, didn't she? Probably couldn't even resist it, "Let it go, Rose, I'm not a child that you can order around anymore. We're not all going to die," Rose reared back slightly as if she had been stung, "I think the Doctor wants to go and find a terminal, why don't you stay here with the big Boe Face?"

"Oh because she's really going to believe that, isn't she Cassandra?" I said out loud into the empty room, "Obviously you were an only child because I don't believe that you know how a sister would react in that type of situations," I watched Rose's stony face, "You've successfully turned Rose away, and she is not going to like it very much being told what to do by her baby sister. You've made her more suspicious because you don't like complications in your plans. Pathetic,"

But the Doctor dragged us away before Rose could say anything else to her. I didn't want to leave it there but I was stuck in this trap and this room without ever an escape route. I wanted to go back and hug her and tell her that it wasn't me that said all those things, that I had no control over the words that came out of my own mouth, that I was locked away in a tiny little box in the corner of my mind and I was controlled by an evil psycho that liked inhabiting trampolines and other people's bodies. But I wasn't able do that.

"So..." I paid attention to what the Doctor was rambling on about, "If they've got the best medicine in the universe then why doesn't anyone know about it? Why is it such a secret?" he frowned down at Cassandra, "Oh, and what...what's with the voice?"

"I can't Adam and Eve it," Cassandra said, before trying to look innocent, "Oh, I don't know...I'm just larking about...New Earth...New Me?" Oh she didn't even need to know how accurate that was. I cast my eyes around the room. At least I hadn't been trapped in completely darkness. I don't think I would have remained calm at all if I had to go through all of that again. I hated the dark now, I barely liked it with other people there. It wasn't fear, like the wolf, but it was a deep hatred that I knew would take me a long time to get over.

"Well I can talk," the Doctor grinned at her, "New New Doctor,"

"Hmmm, aren't you just," Cassandra purred at him, before kissing him roughly. I froze violently at that, watching the scene right before me, and I couldn't help by feel a faint tear roll down my cheek. I angrily wiped it away, dismissing it violently. But I couldn't look away from the screen where Cassandra had finally pulled back from the Doctor, both looking rather flustered, "T-Terminal's this way," she pointed in the direction of the interface.

I saw the Doctor look after her, "Yeah..." he said, running his hand through his hair, "Still got it,"

"She's not me, Doctor," I said quietly to the screen placing a hand to the cold glass, "Can't you tell...it's not me, Doctor," but it wouldn't have gone through to him anyway, there didn't seem to be any way to get a single through to the outside world while I was trapped in here and the only medium was that I go through Cassandra. Because she was such a helpful human being that would help me send a message through to my sister and the Doctor telling them that I was being possessed by someone else.

The Doctor quickly buzzed the interface, looking at the different departments in trying to fix something. I paid attention to this, although I couldn't help in any shape or form, I wanted to know exactly what those nurses were hiding, because it was big no matter what it was, and I wanted to know everything, "There seems to be nothing odd. Surgery...post-op, nano-dentistry," I bet they still smelled like the dentists that we had in the twenty first century, "No sign of a shop though. They should have a shop,"

"No, no, no," Cassandra sounded impatient as she looked through the data, "There's something missing from here. When I was downstairs those nurse-cat-nuns were talking about intensive care, but where is it?" I stared at the screen in front of me, looking through Cassandra...my eyes, "Why would they hide a whole department? It's got to be there somewhere. Search the subframe," I rolled my eyes, she wasn't being very good at keeping a low profile, how would I know about subframes?

"You're right," the Doctor noted, "Very good," he frowned, "But what if the subframe's locked?"

I looked up at that, "Installation protocols," I murmured, before turning my head to the ceiling, "The installation protocols, Cassandra, get him to use the installation protocols! It'll unlock it," I smiled to myself, as I watched her relay the information back to the Doctor. I could be of some use here then, take that Mrs Green, I did remember something from my GCSE ICT. School wasn't a complete waste that I thought it would be then.

"Yes, of course," the Doctor nodded, "Sorry," he scanned the database and then suddenly the whole wall descended down, "Intensive care," he noted, and I saw yet another dark and dingy corridor. What was it about this whole hospital? Didn't they have any health and safety checks at all? "Rose?" he called back to Ward 26, "Come on, Tyler," my sister walked stiffly over to where the Doctor and Cassandra were standing, her face still frosty, "Look at this, there's a whole ward that's been hidden from the general public,"

"Wonderful," she answered stiffly refusing to look at Cassandra who just breezed into the dark corridor. I watched carefully as we came out into a large cavern and descended down a flight of stairs until we reached a line of green looking pods that were about human height. I frowned slightly, seeing the faint shadow of something behind the plastic. I saw Rose look down the long tunnel, "Something tells me that this wasn't on the map at reception," she answered, and the Doctor grimaced slightly.

The Doctor moved to one of the pods, pressing the sonic screwdriver up against the lock and it clicked open. I almost fell off my seat in disgust as I saw what was inside. It was a person, a man but across his skin were a million boils, and pus filled lumps that covered him, "That's disgusting," Cassandra said quietly, "What's wrong with him?" she demanded from the Doctor, "What disease is that?

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told him, "I'm so sorry," he shut the door of the container before going and opening another one. This one held another person, a young woman who stared at the trio blankly not registering that they were right there, "This is all of the diseases...every single one of them. They've been infected with everything," I stared at the picture of the sick woman on the screen. To have absolutely everything...that must be so painful. That wasn't even proper existence.

"Are we safe?" Cassandra inquired and the Doctor nodded silently. I saw her let out a breath at that result. I knew that she wouldn't like to have the body that she was in to be contaminated. I didn't want her ruining my body either with disease, "So how many patients are there?"

"These aren't patients," the Doctor shut the door on the woman, turning around and placing two hands on the railings. I could tell that he was angry because there was a faint tremor in his hands when he gazed down upon the hundreds and hundreds of bodies in their own container.

"But they're sick," Rose said to him, "Doctor, you can see that they're all very ill,"

"They were born sick," he replied, disgust filling his voice, "They're meant to be sick. They exist to be sick. Lab rats," I stared at the screen. All those hundreds of people in those crates were just there to be tested on, "No wonder the Sisters have got a cure for everything. They've built the ultimate research laboratory...a human farm," he stormed along the row of humans, "These are all plague carriers, the last of the stock to go which is why they don't just die,"

"It's for the greater cause," they all turned towards a figure that was walking down the row towards the rest of them. A figure dressed in white, one of the nun cat, "The Sisterhood has sworn to help all those in need,"

"Novice Hame," the Doctor stared at the cat like it was a personal betrayal, "When you took your vows, did you agree to this?" She stared at him, "I wonder, what is the turnover?" He asked, "A thousand a day, a thousand the next? How many thousands, for how many years? How many!" He shouted loudly at her and she jumped back at that. I flinched slightly, it was always slightly frightening when he shouted at someone probably because it was only when he did that that you know that he was being tremendously serious.

"Mankind needed us," Novice Hame tried to explain, "They came to this planet with so many illnesses, we couldn't cope. We did try. We tried using clone meat and bio-cattle but the results were far too slow. So therefore the Sisterhood grew its own flesh. That's all they are...just flesh. They're not real people, they're specially grown, they have no proper existence,"

"These people are alive," the Doctor insisted, "And if the other humans on the planet live because of this...life is worthless,"

"Why can't you think of those humans out there happy and healthy because of us?" The cat said sadly, "Who are you to decide that these lives are worth it to every other human that live on this planet,"

"But it's wrong!" Rose insisted, "You're killing these people and it's not right that you're doing that," she looked at the Doctor, "And believe me, you've got no other authority when he's in the room. If he tells you to do something then you better do it, because he's the Doctor," I smiled at my sister's passionate defence of the Doctor.

Cassandra leaned in closer, "Can I just confirm that none of the humans in the city actually know about this?" Novice Hame shook her head, "Thank you,"

"Hold on," the Doctor suddenly interrupted, holding up a hand, "I can understand the bodies, I can understand your vows," he looked at the cat, "But there's one thing that I can't understand. What have you done to Mary-Anne?" I suddenly grinned at that, leaning forward, seeing that Cassandra had frozen at that statement. Gotcha you bitch, "And I'm being very, very calm. You'll want to be aware of that, very, very calm. And the reason I'm being so very, very calm is because the brain is a delicate thing. Whatever you've done to Mary-Anne's head, I want it reversed,"

"I'm fine," Cassandra dismissed.

"You've been off since you came up to Ward 26," Rose said to her and Cassandra rolled her eyes, "And then you've been using that voice as well, and taking this as a joke," Come on Rose you're almost there, make that final step, "Alice would care about these people and you don't seem remotely bothered by the fact that there are people dying all around us,"

Finally the mask cracked and Cassandra shone through in all her horrible glory, just with my face, "All right then, clever clogs," she turned the Doctor around, "Smarty pants," she pulled out his tie, "Lady killer," he frowned at her, "I knew something was going on in this hospital but I needed this body and your mind to work it out. I mean I'd preferred to use the other one," she looked at Rose, "But this was on offer and I don't particularly like her so I wasn't complaining,"

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked her.

Cassandra leaned in close, "The last human," she whispered to the Doctor who stared at him.

"Cassandra?" He asked and she sighed pulling out the little bottle of perfume to spray in his face. The Doctor was out like a light collapsing on the floor of the corridor and Cassandra smiled at Rose before spraying her quickly as well.

This hadn't exactly been how my rescue plan had been worked out.

**So what did people think? Just drop us a line or a word and that would be absolutely smashing :)**

**Also thoughts on the last episode? For some strange reason it made me really want to watch the 9th Doctor's episodes all over again.**

**:)**


	10. New Earth: Part 4

**So I woke up quite early this morning, not really usual me (I'm awful at using my alarm clock) and decided that I was in a quite happy mood. So I do as I usually do always check the news just to see what is going on with the world. Just so I don't miss something really important and end up finding out a month later.**

**I have to say this.**

**You know you live in Britain if the top headline is that Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who.**

**And this fact actually makes me feel rather sad, because I know that Matt Smith has had some ups and downs as the Doctor but I feel that he is rather good at being the Doctor when he's had a really good script. And it also makes me feel rather old that come 2014, I will have had 4 Doctors.**

**It's actually quite odd how each Doctor has fitted in. Christopher Eccleston introduced me to Doctor Who, David Tennant was my childhood Doctor and Matt Smith was my Doctor when I was a teenager going into adulthood. And I for one am going to miss him.**

**Sorry, ramble over. (Still don't want him to leave)**

**But then we will get a new Doctor...the 12th Doctor, depending on who John Hurt is. And we will grow to love this new Doctor (unless he really is terrible) and all his stories. Of course, I'm saying he but we don't know whether the Doctor will be a He. _Moffat..._**

**Pressing on with the chapter urgently.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine, otherwise I'd know who the bloody hell John Hurt was. It's REALLY annoying me!**

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New Earth: Part 4

"What have you done?" Novice Hame demanded bending down to look at the Doctor, "You've hurt him, I don't understand," I rested my head on my palm, watching the screen tiredly. I just wanted to get out of here now, no more interruptions or anything. No possession or anything, I wanted my body back because I wanted to straighten everything out with these cat nurses, that I wasn't the one responsible, "I'll have to fetch Matron,"

"You do that," Cassandra ordered the nurse, "Because I want to see her. Now run along! Sound the alarm," she walked over to a cable, and pulled out of the wall, making a loud alarm blare in the corridor, "There we go," she opened a pod in the wall, "Oh look a spare, isn't that convenient?"

"Don't you dare, Cassandra," I hissed out seeing her and Chip pick up the Doctor, dragging him towards the pod, "Cassandra...don't," but I was helpless to watch as the Doctor and then Rose was bundled into the case and the door locked. I looked at the ceiling, "Cassandra, let them out! You're going to kill them! Cassandra, please, let them out!" But either she couldn't hear me or had chosen to ignore me because she didn't do it, "Cassandra...!"

Inside the pod both my sister and the Doctor were stirring awake. When they had finally registered their surroundings they became a lot more alert, "Let us out!" Rose shouted at Cassandra through the glass, "Cassandra, let us out of here now!" There was a bang on the door, "Cassandra, let us out of here right now!"

"Aren't you lucky there was a spare?" Cassandra leaned on the other side of the glass, looking inside where my sister and the Doctor were, "And look, it was big enough to fit both of you inside. Incredibly lucky," she smirked, "You know, over the years I have thought of a thousand ways to kill you, Doctor. And now that's exactly what I've got. One thousand diseases," she sighed theatrically, "They give the patients a top up every ten minutes or so. You both have around three minutes left," she stepped back, "Enjoy the last few moments of your lives,"

"You've stolen Mary-Anne's body, Cassandra," the Doctor retorted to her and the woman shrugged, clearly unconcerned with the accusation, "Please just let her go, she doesn't need to have you running around inside her body,"

The other woman stared at him, "I will, don't worry," she pacified him, clearly bored, "As soon as I have found someone younger and...less common," judging from the rest of what she had been saying to me, I truly found that to be a compliment in her eyes, "And of course someone who actually shuts up once in a while, she doesn't ever be quiet. She is starting to give me a headache, but when I have found someone else, I'll junk her with the waste," she placed a finger to her lips, "Now hushaby, it's show time,"

"Can I help you?" I saw that two of the Sisters were walking down the corridor, "We heard the alarm in this sector. How may we help you?"

"Straight to the point, whiskers," Cassandra replied, "I want money," the cat opened her mouth to reply, "And don't say that you don't have any...the humans across the water pay you an absolute fortune, and that is exactly what I need...a one off payment, that's all I want," she tilted my head, "Oh and perhaps a yacht," I flopped back onto the seats, "In return for the money, I will tell the city nothing of your institutional murder," that made the cats stop what they were doing, "I would really advise you to think about this," Cassandra smiled, "So...do we have a deal?"

The slightly shorter nurse sighed, "I'm afraid not," she stated to her, making Cassandra scowl slightly, "The Sisterhood is a charity, we don't give money. We only accept, so therefore I will have to decline your...generous offer," I frowned at that, Cassandra wasn't going to allow them to get away with it if she didn't get something out of it for herself. The City of New New York probably would have paid her a fortune in compensation or something along those lines.

Cassandra smiled at them, "I will tell them," she promised, "And you have no way of stopping me," I let out a breath at that. Please...please don't get my body be ripped to shreds by cats who would stop at nothing to silence Cassandra who was running her mouth off in front of them, "You're not exactly nuns with guns, you're not even armed!"

"Who needs arms?" The cat held up her paw, "When we have claws," she unfurled them with a feline hiss and I peeked through my fingers at the screen. This was more tense than any suspense films I had seen with Rose.

"Oh well...nice try," Cassandra turned to look at the creepy Chip behind her, "Chip, Plan B!" The man pulled on a lever opening the pods in that row. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw Rose and the Doctor get away from the pod. That had been too close for my liking, I didn't want them dying of a thousand and one diseases, "Ahh don't worry, I've only given the system a shot of adrenaline," she informed the Doctor who stared at the emerging diseased people, "See ya!" She strolled off after Chip.

"What have you done?" The Doctor called after her, and I saw the trampoline roll her eyes in annoyance, "Don't touch them!" He shouted at the two sisters who was slowly walking backwards away from the crowd of people, "Whatever you do, don't touch!"

And then something happened which I couldn't see. Suddenly ever single lock exploded on every single door of every single pod, making them all open in front of us and release the people within it. While I was glad that the people inside didn't have to suffer through being in those conditions, I did have to note that I would rather that I didn't contract any of those diseases, especially as I was in here and not...in the living waking world. Now Cassandra was definitely going to have an earful from me seeing as she had caused this. And everyone would think it was me as well!

"Oh my God," Rose said, as they peered over the edge, seeing that thousands of people had emerged, diseased and unable to touch anything without transferring the disease, "What's happened?"

"What the hell have you done, Cassandra?" The Doctor demanded and the woman pouted, "One touch and you get every disease in the world, and I want that body safe, Cassandra!" He looked around, "We have to go down," he pushed her down the flight of stairs, "Run!" she screamed running down them as fast as she could, "Keep going! Down," the Doctor and Rose followed her as they all sprinted as fast as they could towards the bottom of the hospital.

"Come on, come on," I muttered as I watched their descent, "Keep moving, faster," the one thing that I did not want to happen was that each one of them would die because of a stupid woman who merely wanted money. I didn't particularly fancy dying because of it, but then I didn't want to be the only one left because she had gotten the Doctor and Rose killed because of her stupidity. And the most frustrating thing was that I was stuck in this one room unable to do anything to help them move.

_"This building is under quarantine,"_ the P.A. suddenly announced over the speakers, and I sighed. So no one in the hospital could get out, and nothing could get in. This was a disaster waiting to happen, _"Repeat, this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat, no one may leave the premises,"_

The quartet ran down the stairs as fast as they could, going further and further down into the dark and I knew suddenly where Cassandra was leading them. To the place where she had forced her way into my body. I hoped that meant that the Doctor could reverse whatever she had done to me. They all ran towards the lifts, "No, the lifts have all shut down," the Doctor informed Cassandra, "There's a quarantine, nothing's moving,"

Cassandra immediately ran the other way, "Where are you going?" Rose called after her, before running after her, "You're not going to get away, Cassandra," they passed through a set of double doors narrowly avoiding some more people that slowly walked in front of them. However Chip had gotten cut off from the others, the people walking towards him, "Hey!"

The Doctor held her back from going after him, pulling her away, "Oh leave him," Cassandra snapped, "He's only a clone, he's only got a half life!" I winced as Chip called out for Cassandra pitifully. I suppose he really cared for her, "Come on!" Cassandra pulled them through the door, and into the room where she had been for so long. She ran to another door opening it to go through before slamming it realising that there were people behind it, "We're trapped!" She burst out, "What are we going to do?!"

The Doctor was just standing there in the middle of the room, "Well, for starters, you're going to leave that body that you've taken over," he pointed at the contraption, "That psychograft is banned on every civilised planet!" Cassandra merely walked past him, "You're compressing Mary-Anne and I want you to get out of her right now because I am not in the mood for playing games today,"

Cassandra growled slightly, "I can't leave her," she answered, and I kicked the TARDIS console angrily. She could easily leave, it wasn't her body, it was mine and I wanted it back, "I have no where else to go. My original skin's dead," she glared at the two of them and I saw that Rose was now clutching my coat, "What do you suggest then, Doctor? How do I get out of this one? Because I haven't done all of this to end up dead at the hands of you again. I like this body, I am staying in this body,"

"You are not staying here, Cassandra!" I shouted at the screen, and Cassandra placed a hand to her head, rubbing it slightly with the headache I was probably causing her, "I don't care what you do, just get out of my body," I started to pace the floor, "Come on...just get out of me. They're not going to let you get away with this, are they? Think about it, you've got some of my memories, look at them. It's not going to be easy if they're there to stop you,"

"She's my sister," I looked at Rose on the screen, "You've taken her body, you've treated it with hardly any respect, well you wouldn't have taken her body if you had any respect," Cassandra merely sniffed at that, "Did you really think that we wouldn't care what happened to Alice? Neither of us have any intentions of letting you stay there," she looked at the Doctor, "I didn't rip through the Vortex so that she could get inhabited by a plastic trampoline that should have died on Platform One all those months ago," she turned back to Cassandra, "Alice can't want you in her body,"

I pursed my lips, "Alice certainly does not want her in her body," I muttered in answer to Rose's statement.

"Well she doesn't really get a choice in this, although she is still rather...vocal," Cassandra mused slightly, and I let out a loud cough. Like I don't get a bloody input into this conversation, "Because there is still the issue that I have nowhere to go if I leave this body,"

"Not our problem," the Doctor stated coldly, "You can float as atoms in the air," Cassandra glared at him, and he stepped closer to her, raising the sonic screwdriver directly at her chest, "Now get out," Cassandra didn't move, "Give her back to me," I couldn't help but smile at that, and I traced the screen of the TARDIS softly, tracing his face. He would have no idea how much those words actually meant to me, although I might tell him later after...hopefully this was all over. If it was all over.

"You asked for it," Cassandra spat before taking a deep breath and blowing out. Immediately the room that I was in crumbled all around me, turning dark. I grinned as I realised that I was going back to the real world.

Finally.

* * *

Someone caught me as I opened my eyes, and I struggled to remain standing upright, "Don't worry, I've got you," Rose's voice echoed in my ear, "I've got you, you're fine," I held onto her for a second before standing up straight, blinking rapidly. Oh it was weird being back in the real world and not viewing it through a screen. "You all right?" She asked and I nodded, slowly, still adjusting to the world once again. Possession was a weird thing to go through and I never wanted to go through it again, "So where did she go?"

"Oh my..." A voice drawled in the room, "This is different," I turned to see the Doctor, standing strangely, with his hands at an angle, "Goodness me..." Rose and I shared a bewildered look at each other, "I'm a man. Yum. So many parts," she twitched slightly, "And hardly used," Oh brilliant, it was out dearly beloved Cassandra. I rubbed my temple again, bad thing about giving Cassandra headaches were that now they were once again my own headaches, "Oh...!" She crowed delightedly, "Two hearts," she thrust out her chest, "Oh baby, I'm beating out a samba!"

I took my coat off Rose, shrugging it onto my shoulder before pulling out my squareness gun and cocking it, "Get out of him," I told her, and she looked unimpressed, "You've possessed me, you've dressed me ridiculously and you made my sister upset, I am not someone you want to piss off today, Cassandra. So do us all a favour and get the hell out of him. Because you're going to wish that you were only atoms in the air now,"

"Can this wait until later?" She asked and I sighed, lowering the gun, "He's rather slim, isn't he?" She ran a hand down the front of the Doctor's jacket, "And a little bit foxy," she raised her eyebrows at me and I turned away, "You thought so," I gave her a pointed look, "I've been inside your head...Little Miss Noisy. You've been looking," I avoided both her and Rose's eyes, "You like it," the worst thing about this was that if I could see what had been going on then the Doctor certainly could. Like his ego could need with more stroking.

I smiled sweetly at her, "You might want to shut up, Cassandra," I informed her, "You're not the one holding the squareness gun," suddenly the door burst open with diseased people walking inside, "Not a good moment,"

Cassandra patted me violently on the shoulder, frightened, "What do we do?" She demanded at us, "What would he do? The Doctor, what the hell would he do?!" She looked down at me, "Shoot them!"

I stared at her, "I'm not shooting innocent people!" I told her, "I'll shoot you happily! They've done nothing wrong except for being infected by nurse...nun...cat people and now they think that I'm the one to blame, Cassandra! Congratulations!"

Rose looked around, "The ladder," she said, distracting the two of us from our argument, "We've got to go up," she walked towards it, but got pushed away by Cassandra who scrambled up the ladder. I gestured for her to go up next and she nodded before I darted up after her, "Move Cassandra!" She shouted at the woman above us, "They're going to get us if you don't move!"

"Yap, yap, yap," Cassandra was mimicking Rose, but she did move slightly faster than she had previously, "God it was painful inside your head," she looked down at me, "Did you ever shut up? No. Always a continuous running monologue inside your head, and the headaches..." She let out a sigh, "Normal people aren't like that, you're supposed to be all quiet and tucked away. The Doctor's certainly being very quiet, I can't even access his memories," privately I thought that was a very good thing, "But you...way too noisy!"

"I consider that a compliment," I said dryly to her, "Now if you would get out of the Doctor's body then he could think of something!" Cassandra wasn't listening to me, "We're going to die if you don't stop your insufferable pigheadedness!" I let out a pained cry as claws dug into my ankle. I looked down to see the cat nurse below me, "Get off, you maniac!"

"All our good work!" She hissed at me, "All that healing!" I kicked out at her, trying to get her claws off me. I didn't want that cat to rip my foot to shreds! "The good name of the Sisterhood ruined!" She sounded slightly hysterical at that, "You have destroyed everything!" I stared down at her, she didn't care about those people that she had infected with thousands of diseases, killing them merely for research. She was still only concerned for the name of her reputation, "Everywhere, disease. This is the human world! Sickness,"

I shook my head, "This could have all been solved if you hadn't used humans in your experiments," I informed her, "It's not my fault that thousands of people are diseased in this hospital. It's yours for putting them there," she opened her mouth to reply before suddenly crying out. I stared as boils and lumps sprouted along her face and she fell backwards off the ladder, "Move!" I shouted, seeing a group of people making their way towards us, "Cassandra, move!" Rather surprisingly she moved at an alarmingly quick speed and we reached the very top floor, "Now...use the sonic screwdriver,"

Cassandra pulled the silver and blue screwdriver, holding it precariously, "You mean this thing?" She asked and Rose and I nodded, "But I don't know how to! That Doctor's hidden all his thoughts!"

"Cassandra, go into me!" Rose instructed, "The Doctor can open it!" She looked disgruntled, "Do it!"

"Hold on tight then," Cassandra blew out a cloud of purplish energy which went into her, "Oh, chavtastic," she remarked before glaring up at the Doctor, "Open it!" She shouted at him, "We need the Doctor and they're coming up closer than ever!" I looked down below me seeing that the group of people were getting closer and closer. I'd rather not die over an argument, thank you very much.

The Doctor was aiming the sonic screwdriver at her, "Stop using my friends as receptacles," he snarled at her, "I order you to leave her!"

"As you wish," she spat out before going into him, "Whatever the situation is there is no need to shout!" Rose and I just looked up at her, "I can't get into either one of you, he just refuses to do anything! He's so rude!"

I sighed, "I don't care," I informed her, "I just want to get out of here as fast as possible, so think of something before we all die of some horrible disease," she frowned before blowing out, the purple cloud floating past me, "Hello..." I smiled up at the Doctor, "Good to see you again," he quickly opened the elevator doors and I climbed up after Rose and the Doctor, "Sorry about the whole possession...earlier," I informed him, "It's good be me again,"

He grinned, "Good to see that it you again," he answered and I smiled back. He quickly whirred the sonic screwdriver against the doors. The purple cloud suddenly shot into the room and Rose stumbled breathing it in, "Right that is your last warning, Cassandra. You can't just keep hopping through people's heads!"

Cassandra wasn't listening to him though, she was staring straight in front of her, frozen, "Inside her head," she stated blankly, "They're so alone...they keep reaching out to just hold us," her shoulder slumped, "All their lives and they've never been touched,"

I sighed, before bending down to her and offering my hand to her, "Come on," I said to her, "You and I started something that we need to finish," she took it hesitantly, and I helped her to stand, "Come along, people," I looked around before walking onwards.

Things to do.

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**Thank you to the fantastic reviews that I received for my last chapter. As I always say...I love getting reviews, it makes me write a lot better, and it makes me feel a lot more connected with the people that read this story. I treasure every word that someone writes to me, whether it is just a smiley face (love those) or a full paragraph. It's always fantastic.**

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**Love to hear from all of you for this chapter**

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	11. New Earth: Part 5

**Hello, I'm back!**

**This chapter was a bitch to write...mainly because I really wanted to include the Doctor's speech when he cures everyone...but I couldn't figure in the mechanics of actually writing it. But I think I did all right. You decide.**

**Thank you to everyone that reviewed last chapter...I know it's been a while. So big thanks to grapejuice101, skidney, sailormajinmoon, TheGirlWhoImagined, DragonRose4, RawrSaysTheLion (I love your name), and Guest (whoever you are, thank you)**

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New Earth: Part 5

The first thing that greeted us when we walked into Ward 26 was a woman screaming at us as she ran towards us with a metal chair in her hands. I leapt back, raising my hands, "Look, look, look!" The Doctor said to her, showing her his hands, "We're safe, we're safe! Look clean! We haven't been infected or anything! Look at our hands! If we'd been touched we would be dead!" She finally lowered her chair, "So...how's it going up here? What's the status?"

She looked down shakily, "There's nothing but silence from the other wards, I think we're the only ones left," I sighed at that, shaking my head. In a hospital which was supposed to have the best medicine in the universe, there was only death in the corridors. I hope Cassandra realised what she had done now, "And I've been trying to override the signal," now that certainly didn't sound ver good. What was she doing? "If I can trip a signal over to New New York then they can send a private executive squad!" That wasn't a good thing.

The Doctor was shaking his head, "You can't do that, they'd be forced to break quarantine," she glared at him, "We can't let a single particle of disease get out. There are ten million people in that city. They'd all be at risk," he pointed to the large window, "Now turn that off!"

"Not if it gets me out," she snapped at him. I nearly buried my head in my heads. How could she be so stupid?

"All right, fine. So I have to fight you lot too," the Doctor stated, nodding, "Suits me," he got out the sonic, "Cassandra, Mary-Anne, Novice Hame...everyone!" He looked over at a portly man, "Excuse me, Your Grace. Get me the intravenous solutions to every single disease!" We all looked at him, "Move it!"

We all started to move, grabbing different coloured bags. The Doctor had fastened a rope around him, and was quickly tying each of the bags onto him, "What is he doing?" Cassandra asked me and I ignored her busy helping him out on the bags, "Alice?"

The Doctor turned around, "What do you think? Will that do?" He asked me and I nodded, "Good," he detached a metal piece from the ceiling, "Righty-Ho," and I saw him grin at it.

"Doctor!" I said to him and he turned to me, "I'm going to stay here to make sure this lot don't trip the quarantine or anything," he frowned. I nodded to Cassandra, "The route you're taking, there's only room for one passenger, and someone has to make sure she doesn't run off with Rose's body. I don't think New Earth could survive it," he sighed, walking over to me, "Get her to realise what she's done...or what she is going to do," I tweaked one of the baggies on him, "You've got the cures for every single disease there, doesn't take a genius to work out what you're going to do,"

"Clever girl," he noted and I shrugged modestly, with a small smile on my face, "You stay safe, don't let a single person with disease in here," I nodded, like it wasn't obvious, "You've got your phone...and this shouldn't take long," we both looked at Cassandra who was watching the outside world with a slight glint in her eye, "Maybe it's a bad idea to rely on her for this," he looked down, "You still have the option of coming with me for this. Closure of the adventure,"

I placed my hands in my pockets, looking upwards, "Doctor, I haven't really been here for most of the adventure," I told him, "I've been inside the TARDIS console room watching everything through the TARDIS screen," he looked confused, "I'll explain later," I looked around at Cassandra again, "I wouldn't be able to keep her here, I think you're the only person that actually scares her," he looked slightly chuffed, "Besides...me and the Face of Boe need a catch up. Didn't get to talk to him last time I was up here...other circumstances," I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, gently, "Go, you have an appointment that can't be missed,"

He grinned, hugging me gently as to not burst the bags around him, "I am glad that you're back in one piece," he whispered in my ear and I smiled slightly. He straightened up before touching his tie a little, self consciously, "One question..." I looked at him expectantly, and he tilted his head in my direction, "How do I look?"

I admired him up and down, "Amazing," I answered him, and he beamed at me. I nodded towards the door, "Go, you've got a limited time frame in which to do this," I twisted on my heel to look at Cassandra, "Oi," she turned her head, "You're going with him for this one, Cassandra, try to do what he asks will you?" She walked past me to where the Doctor was heading, "Hey Doctor?" The man looked back at me, "See you in hell, yeah?" He grinned at the parting before nodding. The two left the Ward, "And good luck to you," I mumbled. I cleared my throat, "Frau Clovis," the woman raised her eyebrow at me, "Seal the doors of the ward..."

"As you wish," she replied stiffly to me, heading over to the glass plated doors. She returned shortly afterwards, "Although I don't see how they will be able to do anything," she sniped a little, "They're just two people against an army of diseased ridden people," I sighed, "What can they do? He's only got some bags tied around him,"

"Bags which contain the cure for every disease in this world," I finished for her, looking pointedly over at her, "Every single disease. Now I'd say if he had a container to fill the entirety of those medicines then he could empty them out and cure the people downstairs," she just stared at me, "He is the Doctor, ma'am, he knows what he is doing...most of the time," I amended, "And if he succeeds then he will be the one person that you will remember. And how brilliant he is,"

She sniffed, "And if he were to fail at this? If those people get him," I closed my eyes at that, "You can't deny that might be an actual possibility. If both of them die, then we're stuck here waiting for death," she continued to tap away at her palm pilot, "And I am not going to die in this hell hole of disease," she walked over to the window.

I sighed looking at the ceiling, mustering my courage to what I was about to do, "Let's see that," I said to her, holding out my hand. She looked suspiciously at me, "Oh come on, I just want to have a look," she reluctantly passed it to me. Immediately I threw it down on the floor, pulled out the squareness gun, and fired at it. It suddenly disappeared from the floor. I pocketed the gun, looking at the outraged woman, "Don't worry, it's got a reverse feature, I'll return it when the crisis is over,"

"How dare you!" She shouted at me, "You had no right to destroy that," I only smiled in the face of her anger. Hanging out with the Doctor really did have its advantages, "You're willing to just sit here and let yourself die? All we are doing now is waiting until they come bursting through the doors. We could have lived,"

"Like the Doctor said," I informed her calmly, "There are ten million people in that city of yours, and I don't know how many in the rest of this New Earth. If a particle of disease gets out and kills one person...more, then that is our fault. I'm not going to let that happen. So yes, I am willing to sit here until we die, if that is what is to happen to us," I straightened up, "So get used to it. The Doctor's not here and he is the best chance that we have. Get it? Got it?" She still looked outraged, "Good,"

I walked over to where the cat that the rest of them had met earlier...Novice Hane...Hame. That was it, Novice Hame. She looked so innocent sitting there, not really understanding what was really going on, "I'm not sure what's going on," there she just confirmed what I thought about her, "You unleashed the Flesh, didn't you?"

"No," I replied, looking down at her, "Long story, there's a psychograft in your basement. Bitchy trampoline placed herself in my mind, took control of my body. She's in my older sister now, decided to move on," I sat down in front of the Face of Boe, "Like I said, it's a long story. I'll have to write it all down tonight, if we get out of here," I smiled at her, "I'm Alice Tyler," I shook her hand, "Pleased to meet you and all," she nodded confused. "You look after him?" I nodded to the Face.

"He's not much trouble," she said to me, "Just maintain his smoke and he likes to sometimes talk to me. In my mind," I smiled softly, "And he likes singing as well. Very old songs that no one remembers anymore. I like the work," and it was hard not to like Novice Hame, she was just very innocent in this. She truly believed what the Sisters had done was right, "The Doctor said you met him just the once before today?"

I nodded, placing a hand on the glass, "Yes, Platform One. I was just starting out really," I mused, "He was kind to me, placed me at ease. I'm wasn't very good with those things," I sighed, rocking back, "What's wrong with him?" I asked her.

"Oh I'm sorry," she answered, "I thought you would have known," I shook my face, "The Face of Boe is dying," I let out a long breath at that, "It's just old age which we can't cure, not through lack of trying," I tried to not let myself tense up at that, even though it was technically the cat nurse's fault that this all really happened, "He's just lost the will to live really. They say he is millions of years old, but that's rather impossible. No one is that old, not really," she looked down, "But there are superstitions surrounding him,"

I smiled at that, "Tell me," I said to her and she looked away towards the set of doors, "Don't worry, they won't get through for a while now. The Doctor will solve it," she sighed, "Tell me what do they say about the Face of Boe?"

"Well one superstition says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his last great secret," she told me and I raised my eyebrows, "It says that he'll tell it to a wanderer, the man without a home," a shiver ran down my back as I stared at her. That sounded very much like the Doctor, "The lonely God,"

"Fascinating," I murmured, staring at the Face of Boe. I pressed a hand to the glass, "I had a feeling you wanted to talk to me, my friend," I murmured, "I wouldn't have stayed behind if I hadn't," the eyes of the Face of Boe, "Hello again..." I smiled slightly, "Long time since Platform One, hasn't it been? Well especially for you, most likely. Little shorter for me naturally,"

"Mary-Anne Tyler," I smiled at him, "Indeed it has been far too long since you and I talked to each other. I rested my head on my palm, looking up at him, "The Doctor was here earlier with your sister," I nodded, "It's been a long time since I have seen them both, I did not think I ever would again. It has been such a very long time since...and I am growing older every single moment. It is getting heavier every second of the day,"

"You can't die yet," I said to him, placing a finger on the glass, "Not yet...it's not time to go for you," and I felt that it was true that it really wasn't his time to leave here, "You've still got so much to see...haven't you? It's not time to go yet..." I looked back behind me, "The Doctor will solve everything, and everything will be back to as it ought to have been...even with the trampoline,"

"Hmmm," the head moved slowly, "Yes, I can see that happening quite easily. Nothing is ever simple with the Doctor. A hospital filled with the potential of death, of course he would be able to survive against all the odds. He always survives, doesn't he?"

I bit my lip, not hiding my smile, "I sincerely hope so," I answered, "But I got the feeling that you wanted to talk to me about something specific," the eyes stared at me, and my smile dropped off my face, "Is it that bad, Boe?"

"The times that have left you were difficult," he said to me, "But the times that face you will be even harder," I felt very uneasy at that, "And you will find that some things are never quite as safe as they thought they would be. And the sacrifices that will come will be enough to test you and make you chose impossible options," now I didn't like those words, "This is the beginning of your life, Mary-Anne. I hope that you will be able to bear it,"

"I've already lost people," I replied shortly, thinking of Jack, "I'd rather not lose any more,"

"Sometimes...we don't get a choice in what happens," he answered and I sat back at that, thinking very hard about what he was saying, "All you can do is live everyday as it comes, and never forget that what rises must always come down...eventually," I nodded slightly, before standing up, looking around the ward, "We will meet again soon...and perhaps you will have realised that," I turned my head towards the Face of Boe, "I would only ask that you not tell the Doctor that...he doesn't like to know the endings. The fact that things are always changing,"

I sighed, "When you've been alive for that long, I suppose everything you see turns to dust so quickly," I mused, looking down at him, "They do say that time speeds up as you get older," the face only nodded slowly, "I bet you know a few things about that," I sighed, "Don't worry, I won't tell him," Boe smiled at me, and suddenly the doors opened in the ward, "That's my cue, I suppose," I smiled sadly, "Nice talking to you again," I walked over to the doors, seeing that men in police uniforms standing outside. I grinned wider at that, "Finally,"

"This is the NNYPD," the P.A. suddenly announced over the speakers, "Please step away from the shuttles. All staff will present themselves to the officers for immediate arrest," well that was a final result on the nurses behalf, "I repeat. Immediate arrest. All new lifeforms will be catalogued and taken into care. All visitors to the hospital will be required to make a statement to the NNYPD," I let the officers pass me by before running over to where the Doctor had just emerged from the lift and hugging him.

"You did it," I said to him and he grinned, "Are they all cured now?"

"Yep," he answered and we both grinned at each other, "Everything's cured, no more disease in this entire hospital, all vaccinated against as well...which probably means that they won't get any more disease...maybe," we all quieted down as an officer walked past us with Novice Hame in tow. I felt slightly sorry for her, she seemed so young, "The Face of Boe!" The Doctor sprinted over to the Face who was still there, looking wide awake, "You were meant to be dying," the Doctor informed him, "Change of mind?"

The Face of Boe chuckled, "There are better things to do today. Dying can wait," he answered the Timelord, "I had grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew,"

"Oh I hate telepathy," I rolled my eyes as Cassandra made her dramatic statement, "Just what I need. A head full of big face," the Doctor shhhed her and she looked slightly taken aback by it, "Excuse me," she sniffed.

The Doctor crouched down in front of the glass, "There are legends, you know," he said, "Saying that you are millions of years old. Wouldn't that just be impossible," they both laughed at that, "I got the impression...that there was something you wanted to tell me," he approached it delicately.

"The Great Secret," the Face of Boe stated, and the Doctor nodded, "It can wait," the Doctor's nose wrinkled at that. He clearly didn't like not knowing. The Face of Boe's eyes slid to me for a second and I realised that he knew that he wasn't going to die here, that he wasn't going to tell the great secret, he wanted to tell me something, that which he had told me earlier, "We will meet again, Doctor, for the third time, for the last time, and then the truth shall be told. Until that day," he suddenly disappeared in a blur of sparkles, teleporting from sight.

"That was enigmatic," the Doctor nodded, "That was textbook enigmatic," he sighed as he straightened up, turning towards Cassandra, "And now for you," she stared at him, "You've lived long enough...leave that body and end it, Cassandra,"

She sighed, "But everything's happy, everything's fine!" She said, "Can't you just leave me?" He just looked at her and I folded my arms. She certainly wasn't living in Rose's body for all time. Cassandra sobbed a little, "I don't want to die!" She pleaded, "Help me!"

"I can't," the Doctor answered.

"Mistress!" We all turned to see Chip running towards us. Of all the people that survived, I had not expected for him to end up right in front of us, clear of disease, "I saved myself, mistress, for you,"

I looked at Cassandra, who seemed to be rather interested in what he had just said, "Hey," I stepped forward, "That's not fair, he's got a life of his own," she only winked at me, "Cassandra!" And with that she blew out the purple cloud going into Chip. I caught Rose as she fell, "Hey you," I said to her as she blinked wearily open, "Nice to have you back," she nodded tiredly, standing up straight.

"Oh sweet Lord," we all looked at Cassandra, who was admiring her hands "I'm a walking doodle,"

"You can't stay in there, Cassandra," the Doctor rounded on her, "I'm sorry, but that's not fair. I can take you to the city and they can build you a skin tank. And you can stand trial for what you've done,"

Cassandra didn't seem very bothered by this, "Well that would be rather dramatic," she said, "Possibly my finest hour and certainly my finest hat," she tipped the hat she was wearing on her head, "But we don't have much time. Poor little Chip, he's only a half life, and he's been through so much," she looked down at her chest, "His heart is racing so...He's failing. I don't think he's going to last," she suddenly collapsed, all three of us catching her, "I'm fine...I'm fine," she stared at us, "I'm dying..." She realised and pity moved slightly within me, "But that's fine,"

"I can take you to the city," the Doctor started.

She shook her head, "No you won't," she answered, "This planet is brand new, there's no place for Chip and me anymore. You were right Doctor...it's time to die," I looked back to where the Face of Boe had been. More people would die...had he known? "And that's good,"

The Doctor helped her up, "Come on, there's one last thing I can do," he said and we helped her from the room.

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We didn't give a statement to the NNYPD, we slipped past them like shadows as we made our way back to the TARDIS which had been parked on that tiny little cliff overlooking the city. It was a silent walk back with no conversation between the four of us. Just before I went back into the blue box, I soaked the view of the city of New New York in once again. I got the feeling that it wasn't the last time I would be seeing it. Especially if we were going to be seeing the Face of Boe again. I doubt he would be moving from this planet any time soon.

The ride in the TARDIS was quiet as well, the TARDIS for once not rocketing around. Rose fussed around Cassandra, finding her a warm cloak. I wondered slightly where we were going, the Doctor looked very serious as he moved around the console. I was leaning against the railings, watching as the fob-watch ticked the seconds past, mainly thinking about what the Face of Boe had told me. That the times ahead of me were going to be difficult. I watched Rose carefully. More people would die that I knew. I sincerely hoped that wasn't going to be true, Jack's death had been enough for a lifetime.

The TARDIS finally gave a final jolted, and the Doctor quickly opened the doors. Outside was the exact scene that I had seen on the video player just before Cassandra had inhabited my body. Except obviously this was real people and real flowers and drinks. It was all rather odd. And of course right in the centre of the room, surrounded by a crowd of people was the Lady Cassandra who was young and beautiful. The opposite to the other Cassandra that stood behind us, "Thank you," she said to the Doctor.

"Just go and don't look back," he warned her and she nodded.

"Good luck," Rose added to her.

Cassandra made to walk over to her, "Hey Cassandra," I said to the woman who turned to look back at me, "I'm sorry," she seemed to get the message because she smiled and glided over to where the younger version of her was. None of us could hear exactly what was being said between the two Cassandras but I remembered what had been said in the basement of the hospital. How this night was the last time that Cassandra had ever been called beautiful. I guess that we had found out who exactly had told her that.

And suddenly the older one collapsed in the younger's arms, "Time to go," the Doctor said to us and we moved towards the door of the TARDIS. I looked back at the Doctor as he lingered at the door, watching the scene and I was reminded that the Doctor didn't like endings. And one had just enacted right in front of us. It must have made its mark on him. But he just walked into the TARDIS and started heading around the controls, charting our next course. I shivered slightly...it did not want to ever end up like Cassandra had.

Such a sad way to die.

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"So it was a self fulfilling paradox," I said to the Doctor, late that night as he was fixing something under the grate, "The young Cassandra saw her older self tell her that she was beautiful for the last time, and saw herself die, and that made it so that she would always persevere to be as beautiful for as long as possible which led to her doing what she did on Platform One and New Earth, thereby leading to her telling her younger self that she was beautiful for the last time, kicking the cycle all off again,"

He looked up, "You're finally getting it then," he remarked and I threw a crisp at him that I was eating, "Oi," he brushed the crumbs off him, "Essentially you're correct, it's one big loop which never ends. Cassandra always has to be there to tell her younger self that she's beautiful otherwise it'll break the paradox. Boom,"

I nodded, eating another crisp, "Complicated things, aren't they?" I waved the bag around, "Just proves that time isn't one straight line, does it? It always loops around and goes back on us again. Awfully confusing," I crunched down on the food, "I wish it'd make up its mind some of the time," I thought about it, "Hang on, Rose held her baby self when we met our Dad, why did that go so terribly wrong? Cassandra did it just fine,"

"Well Cassandra wasn't exactly in her own body, was she?" he said and I made a noise of agreement, "And also we were in a bubble of temporal instability," I was just going to pretend I knew what he was talking about there, "And it was a paradox, it had to happen otherwise the end of reality...sort of," he looked over to me, "Understand?"

"Not a word," I replied, throwing him another crisp, "Which probably means that it's right," I shrugged, "I have to say it's been rather productive day in terms of an adventure," he raised an eyebrow, "Well...we saved an entire subspecies, uncovered a conspiracy by nun-cat-nurses, brought resolution to an old enemy, seen a bit of New Earth, and received a very interesting riddle from the Face of Boe who we know we will see rather soon. Other than the possession thing, it's been a rather good day. Even if I did miss most of it," I shrugged, scrunching up the empty packet of crisps, and opening my diary. The face of Cassandra stared back at me and I snapped it shut quickly.

"Yes...the Face of Boe," he looked at me, "What did he say to you when you talked to him?"

I looked at him slowly, "Not much, just caught up since the last time we both talked to each other," he narrowed his eyes, "Gave me some advice that he thought I needed," I waved it aside, covering the unease that I felt from what he had told me with blasé, "Nothing much. What's more interesting is this Great Secret that he's going to tell you the next time you'll see him," he nodded, "It's got to be something huge if he's been waiting millions of years until he tells you. Makes you wonder what it is, or what it entails,"

"Who knows?" he sighed, "But there's no point thinking about it at the moment. It's not going to come around by us just waiting here," he had a point in that, there was no point wasting time thinking about what could possibly happen, "Can you help me with this bit," I walked over to where he was, "Hold these bits up so I can weld them together," I did as he asked, "I was wondering...you said you saw everything...when you were trapped by Cassandra,"

"Yes," I cleared my throat, "Yeah, I was in here actually," I looked at the ceiling, "But only this room, the front door and the back were blocked by bricks. I could see what was happening through the screen. Made for very interesting entertainment," the Doctor was deliberately concentrating on the pieces of metal, "It's fine, you know," he looked at me, innocently, "What Cassandra did when she was in my body, it's all fine,"

"Really?" he asked, "Because I thought that you'd...be annoyed,"

"The way I see it, you thought that she was me, and I wasn't me," I stated bluntly, "So Doctor, it's fine," he opened his mouth, "Really," he closed his mouth, "I mean how many body stealing aliens are there in the universe anyway?"

"A lot," he replied and I hummed at that, "So it's all good?" I nodded finally, "Great," he focussed on the pieces of metal again, "Anyway I doubt that the next trip is going to involve anything quite so dangerous. A hospital filled with death can't be beaten by much I don't think,"

I looked at him, before rolling my eyes, "You know you say that and now it's going to happen," I informed him, "We've had nuns, I think I can wait a lifetime before we see any monks or anything else like that," he nodded quickly. I decided to change the subject, "So what are you doing here then?" I gestured to the two pieces of metal and he started babbling away, with me nodding at various times.

The Face of Boe had said that this was the start of my life, and I would do as he said by living it every single day at a time.

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**So tell me what you think, drop me a line or a smiley face (which always love). ****I have actually the next chapter all done so it should be quick getting it up.**

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_**Next Time**_

_**"The Tyler Sisters...ruining fashion in every era,"**_

_**"1879******__,"_ he realised, before shrugging, "Same difference,"

_**Rose gripped my hand tightly, "The Head Monk said something about being taken to a beast," I looked at the terrified faces, "Any ideas about what that was all about or am I supposed to guess?"**_

_**A hissing noise echoed behind me and I closed my eyes as Rose gripped onto my hand incredibly tightly. That would be the beast then, wouldn't it? I turned slowly around to see a man sitting comfortably inside a cage staring at me almost curiously, "That's the beast," Rose whispered to me, sounding terrified.**_

_**"There's something in the walls," I said.**_

_**"Needed to show you something," he said and I raised an eyebrow, "It's good," he flung open the doors of the TARDIS, "Happy Birthday,"**_


	12. Tooth and Claw: Part 1

**I am so sorry that this hasn't been up sooner. I've been on holiday and the wifi absolutely sucked, I was lucky to get emails let alone actually go on the Internet on my phone. However without further fuss, here is a new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Tooth and Claw: Part 1

"Will this do?" I jumped out of the grate that I had been standing in, twirling around in front of her. Rose nodded at me, grinning, "Late 1970s, it was all punk and skirts back then, wasn't it?" She giggled and I looked down at the black miniskirt that I was wearing, "Not too high is it?" she shook her head, "Oh good," I smoothed the material down slightly self consciously, "Nice dungarees," I looked over her, "We do make such a pair," I twirled on the spot again, "The Tyler Sisters...ruining fashion in every era,"

"Oh I don't know," the Doctor passed me having just walked out of the room, "Looks very authentic to me," he remarked before tilting his head, "You're wearing that skirt again," I grinned happily at him, before moving past. Nothing was going to ruin this day for me, "I'm not complaining...it's very nice skirt...nice legs. Anyway," he moved on and Rose shot me a secret smile from behind her hand, "Why are you two dressed up like that?"

"It's her birthday," Rose informed him and I spun around in a circle again happily, "Nineteen years old today. And we were thinking...seeing as we've never actually done it...You should take us to see a band in the seventies...or eighties," the Doctor looked up, "Alice loves that era of music. I'd definitely be up for going," she grinned at me, "What music actually was in the seventies, Alice? I know the Beatles were the sixties and then there's ABBA. Ooohh," she leaned against the railings, her face suddenly entranced, "Elton John,"

"Oh come on," I spun in a circle before leaning back on the TARDIS console, "The seventies! David Bowie with Ziggy Stardust!" I pointed at her, "Queen," she laughed at me, "And although we don't have the Beatles, we do have them with their other albums," I waved a hand, "And then we've got Led Zeppelin...and the Sex Pistols. The 70s were great in music," I nudged her softly, "Used to steal Mum's old vinyls when she was out of the house. She's got loads,"

The Doctor turned his head towards me, "You never said that it was your birthday," he said and I shrugged gently, not really wanting to admit anything, "Should have said," he grinned, "Happy Birthday," he twisted a dial on the TARDIS, "Late nineteen seventies should be easy...hold on," he ran from the room quickly.

I looked after him, "That was dramatic," Rose answered, and we both cracked up laughing at that, "You didn't tell him that it was your birthday?" I shook my head and she frowned, "Why ever not? You know that he would be all over that. I told him when it was mine," she looked at me up and down, "Nice legs, Alice," she snorted with laughter at that again and I placed my hands on my hips, staring at her, "Sorry,"

I shook my head, "No, it's fine," I said to her, before flopping onto the seat, looking at the ceiling, "It means another year," I replied to her earlier question and she frowned, "The...how do you say it...days go past so quickly for him, and every day he sees us getting older. We've been travelling with him for nearly eleven months now. I should know, I keep a record of it. No matter what we do we age, we have birthdays to mark each year," I looked at my hands, "I didn't really want him to feel sad that I am one year closer to getting old,"

"He's nine hundred and something," she informed me, "If that's not old then I'm practically a baby," she sighed, "You shouldn't let it upset you on your birthday,"

"I'm not going to," I assured her, "But I'm not going to forget that he...might not like birthdays. I mean suddenly he's a year older and he doesn't even say," she opened her mouth, "He might have had his birthday and we'd never know because he wouldn't have said. There's got to be a reason," I jumped up, patting her on the shoulder, "That's why I didn't tell him that it was my birthday. So many people pass him by. It's got to have an effect that they grow old and die in front of him. Not exactly you want to remember,"

"I understand," Rose nodded, before reaching down to her bag, "But as it is your birthday," she pulled out a box, and handed it to me, "I got you something for it," I gave her a look, "Don't worry, it's not something that'll bite. Open it," I opened the case and immediately laughed when I saw it, "It's authentic," she added, "Proper leather and everything," she looked at my pocket accusingly, "I thought it would be a good idea for you. You carry way too many things in that jacket of yours,"

I pulled the bag out of the box, "Well thank you very much," I said to her, grinning, feeling the leather, "You can give practical gifts to me," she swatted me, and I dodged out her way mockingly, "I don't carry them around because it weighs me down, I wouldn't do that," I told her seriously, "It's just...Jack gave the sonic blaster to me and it's a bit of him. And it's also very good at disappearing locks on doors. And I promised the Doctor that I wouldn't let go of the watch," the Doctor walked into the room again holding a CD, and I twirled to him, pushing the conversation out of my mind, "So do you think what we're wearing is all right?"

"For the late nineteen seventies you'd be better off in a bin bag," he said before grinning, "Hold on," he slid the CD into the console, "Listen to this," Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick came on through the TARDIS speaker, and I grinned, bouncing to the music, "Ian Drury and the Blockheads, Number One in 1979,"

"You're a punk!" Rose exclaimed pointing at him, and the Doctor started to sing to the music as he rocketed around the console, "That's what you are. A big old punk with a bit of rockabilly thrown in," I laughed at that, hopping onto the railings, "So what are we going to do?"

"Do you want to see him in concert?" he asked us and we looked at him, "A lot of stuff happens in the seventies, why not Ian Drury?" I nodded at him liking the idea, "I mean what's a TARDIS for? I can take you to the Battle of Trafalgar, the first antigravity Olympics...Caesar crossing the Rubicon," he circled the TARDIS, "Or Ian Drury at the Top Rank, Sheffield, England, Earth, 21st November 1979, what do you think?" he looked at me, "And as its your birthday, you decide where we go, Miss Mary-Anne,"

I patted the console, "Sheffield it is," I answered him smugly.

He nodded, "Hold on tight," he informed us before pulling the lever. I immediately grabbed onto the console as she jerked and shook even more roughly than usual, I thought. Maybe that might be because the Doctor was currently hitting her with his hammer, "Landing!" He shouted and we all fell on the floor when the TARDIS suddenly shook violently, and possibly quite angrily. It bothered none of us as we all started laughing before scrambling upwards, "1979!" The Doctor beamed, "Hell of a year! China invaded Vietnam, the Muppet Movie- love that film," he pulled on his coat, "Margaret Thatcher- urgh," he made a face at that as I followed him to the door, my new bag already in place, "Skylab falls to earth, with a little help from me,"

"When is anything not done with a little help from you?" I asked him teasingly, and he mock pouted. It was true, just by staying up that little bit longer in the TARDIS, I saw that the Doctor always had things to be doing. I never knew whether he actually slept for any long periods of times. He was always there when I finally fell asleep and there when I opened my eyes and found myself in the TARDIS console room. I could hardly imagine him staying still for a minute if there were things he could be doing.

"As I was saying," the Doctor drew my attention back to him, "It crashed and nearly took off my thumb," he looked at his thumb, "And I like my thumb," he opened the door and we walked outside, "I need my thumb," I raised my hands when I was met with the barrel of a gun, "I'm very attached to my...thumb," so the Doctor had noticed that we weren't in the right place and he raised his hands to join Rose and I, "1879," he realised, before shrugging, "Same difference,"

I looked at him pointedly, "Except obviously there is no Sheffield, or Ian Drury in sight, Doctor," I stated, and he looked out across the barren landscape, "Actually looks like the middle of nowhere, Doctor," I leaned in closer to whisper to him, "Maybe you ought to have not hit the TARDIS quite as hard as you were," the barrel of the gun in front of me raised a little and I lifted my hands higher, "Righty-Ho, as you wish,"

"You will explain your presence, sir," one of the men on the horses said to us, "And the nakedness of these two girls," I looked down at my skirt, it really wasn't all that short...really. Perhaps they all disagreed with me on that score. I glanced at Rose, at least I wasn't wearing dungarees, "Will you also identify yourself,"

The Doctor looked delightedly at the man, "Are we in Scotland?!" He inquired affecting a Scottish accent which actually rather fit him which really surprised me, "And I'm all dazed and confused, I've been chasing these wee naked children over hill and over dale," now he really was going for it, I had to bit my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud. He was rather ridiculous with his words. "Isn't that right, ya timorous beasties?" I raised my eyebrow at that, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't expecting me to answer that, was he?

Rose however clearly had no scruples in that area, "Och aye!" She tried to do an accent and I couldn't help but let out a giggle at her words, "I've been oot and aboot," the Doctor tried to shake his head rapidly at her to stop talking but she merely frowned at him, "Hoots mon!" Another giggle escaped my mouth and we both quietly high fived each other behind the Doctor's back. That had been brilliant.

The Doctor held up the psychic paper to the man in front of us, the man who had spoken before hand, "I'm Doctor James McCrimmon," he bluffed, "From the township of...Balamory," a snigger left my mouth and I covered it with my mouth in order to stop myself from laughing any further and risking us getting shot quicker than we already were going to be, "As you can see my credentials show that I have a Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. I trained under Doctor Bell himself," if they actually bothered to check that out, I wonder what they would have found in regards to that achievement. But then Doctor Bell probably knew the Doctor already, such was life for the Doctor.

"Let them approach," I peered past the red clothed soldiers to stare at the carriage. There definitely had been a women's voice that had emerged from there. An upperclass voice. The man on the horse shifted slightly with unease, "Captain Reynolds, let them approach," he sighed before allowing us to move closer to the carriage.

My eyebrows nearly disappeared into my hair when I saw the occupant of that particular carriage. I was not expecting to run into this person, "Mary-Anne, Rose," I looked at the Doctor who grinned at us, "Might I introduce Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. Empress of India and Defender of the Faith," I nodded at that, seeing the woman dressed all in black with a frilly white headdress. Well this was new and slightly more interesting than Sheffield. Queen Victoria on my birthday, hardly something to sniff at.

Rose curtseyed and I followed her, "Rose and Mary-Anne Tyler, ma'am," she said for the both of us, "And you have both of our apologies for being so naked," I nodded at that, better to apologise for that than us getting another barrel in our faces and a possible execution. That would put a dampener on the day.

The Queen hardly batted an eyelid, "I've had five daughters," she announced proudly, "It's nothing to me," she looked at the Doctor, "But you, sir, show me these credentials," the Doctor handed over the psychic paper happily, smug in the knowledge that it would still hold the information that it had given the Captain on the horse. Queen Victoria blinked at the paper before looking up at the Doctor, "But why didn't you say so immediately?" We all frowned, "It clearly states here that you have been appointed by The Lord Provost as my Protector,"

Now that was interesting, and certainly not expected. I shot a narrowed look at the Doctor, I would bet heavily on a subconscious desire of his that we would follow this carriage to wherever it intended to lead us, "Does it?" He inquired innocently, as he took the paper back, "Yes, it does. Good, good," he looked around the surrounding wilderness, "Then let me ask, why is Your Majesty travelling by road when there's a train all the way to Aberdeen," I still couldn't quite adapt to the Scottish accent he was putting on.

Queen Victoria's lips narrowed at that, "A tree on the line," she merely said, "I am the Queen of the United Kingdom, of Great Britain and Ireland. Everything around me tends to be planned. I'm quite used to staring down the barrel of a gun,"

"What, seriously?" Rose looked at her, shocked, "There are people out to kill you?" I had to admit that it came as quite of a shock. This little old lady didn't seem to be much of a target just by looking at her. Even if she was the Queen of all of the UK.

The Queen merely nodded, smiling a little, almost proud that she had survive an assassination attempt but then I supposed that anyone who had would be rather proud of that, "Ma'am," Captain Reynolds appeared behind us, "Sir Robert MacLeish lives but ten miles hence," he informed the Sovereign, "We've sent word ahead, and he'll shelter us for the night. We'll be able to reach Balmoral tomorrow then," he looked at the three of us despairingly, "Are these three to accompany us?"

"Yes," Queen Victoria agreed and I rocked back and forth in my shoes, "I suspect that nightfall will be coming soon," I let my eyes drift around the landscape, "And there are stories of wolves in these parts as well,"

My head snapped up fast that I nearly cracked my neck, "Wolves?" I looked around the barren landscape quickly, searching for any sight of a wolf, "Where's wolves?" Rose and the Doctor looked at me, "Werewolves?" I inquired innocently. Rose rolled her eyes, and I scowled in her direction, "I'm not going anywhere where there are wolves, I've had enough of them to last a lifetime. I blame you," I told the Doctor, waving my hand in his direction, "Back to the TARDIS then? I wanted to see Ian Drury," I looked at the Queen, trying to stave off the cold chill that had encompassed me, "Apologies, ma'am but I'm not staying anywhere where there is a wolf,"

"I would have thought that you would have gotten over your fear of wolves," the Doctor said, "You've got a wolf protecting you. Kind of wolf, not really, but the sentiment is still there,"

"I know there is nothing on earth that will make me step into a house if there is any mention of a wolf nearby," I answered staring at him, "There isn't much time between when a wolf eventually blows the house down and when it's eating us," I choked back the fear I felt, "Back to the TARDIS, we'd hate to prevent Her Majesty's carriage from continuing onto the house,"

"But you must," the Queen demanded and I swallowed heavily, "Doctor McCrimmon is my Protector while I am in Scotland," I clenched my jaw tightly to stop myself from biting back at her, "Beside they are only fanciful tales intended to scare the children," I folded my arms at that, "But good for the blood, I think," Maybe for her, but I didn't say anything as she tapped the roof of her carriage and commanded the man to, "Drive on!"

I just stood there as the Queen and all her redcoats passed us, "So..." The Doctor grinned brightly, "Onwards then," I stayed stiffly where I was, "Oh come on," he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "I don't think that..." I placed a hand over his mouth before he had time to finish his sentence.

"Every time one of us says that 'nothing could possibly go wrong' or 'well this was easy' or even 'there can't possibly be a giant rat in the sewers' then somehow that what we have said suddenly comes into being," I informed him, "And today of all days, I am not risking that, despite your almost mishap," I lowered my hand, "Any mention of a wolf or wolf stories then I will respectfully vacate the room," he nodded, and we continued walking, "Oh good, now for more interesting topics of conversation. Forget Ian Drury, we have a living and breathing monarch,"

"It's funny though," Rose piped up from next to me, "Because when you say assassination, you think of Kennedy and stuff...not her,"

The Doctor looked thoughtful, "1879, she's had...about six attempts on her life," I was surprised at that. Six attempts and she was still alive, that was some impressive survival skills in her closet. The Doctor nudged me, grinning suddenly, "And I tell you what else," he crowed, "We just met Queen Victoria, on your birthday. What a laugh!"

"Something for the history books," I agreed, letting out a wide grin. Despite the mention of there possibly being a chance of being attacked by wolves, the lady made up for it quite a bit, "And she was just sitting there...like a stamp."

Rose giggled, "I want her to say We Are Not Amused," she put on a posh accent, "I bet you both five quid that I can make her say it,"

The Doctor scoffed, "Well if I did that then that would be an abuse of my privileges as a time traveller," he informed both of us.

I inspected my fingernails, "Ten quid?" I offered.

"Done,"

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**So here is the new chapter. Hope to hear about what you think of it :) Definitely try to update soon. Thank you to all those that reviewed the last chapter. Airhead121, grapejuice101, skidney, sailormajinmoon and DragonRose4**

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	13. Tooth and Claw: Part 2

**Ahh, I'm back here again with a new chapter. Hope everyone's well and enjoyed the last chapter. I've been dog sitting so I've had a lot to time to catch up the writing I've been meaning to do. Which is always good for everyone.**

**Thank you to all of you that reviewed. sailormajinmoon, skidney, DragonRose4 and AirHead121. Your words as ever help me to write a lot more efficiently than without them. And I so love hearing from people.**

**SO! We've found who the 12th Doctor is. I quite like Peter Capaldi as an actor from the Thick of It, but obviously he's going to be playing a very different character, I am looking forward to seeing what his interpretation of playing the Doctor is going to be. But that also means saying goodbye to Matt Smith.**

**Either way, here is the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Tooth and Claw: Part 2

Eventually, after what seemed like forever, we walked into the courtyard of a rather large house, clearly belonging to someone with quite a bit of money. I frowned at the large sign above it. Torchwood House. Somehow that name seemed to send shivers down the back of my neck, or perhaps it was just because the walk had been nothing but freezing on the way over here. Either way, I didn't like the look of the house, nor the look of the servants that came out to greet us along with what I assumed to be the Master of the House, who looked, frankly, slightly terrified that we were all here. Rather a funny way to greet the Queen of England but there you have it. Perhaps it was just him.

"Sir Robert," the Queen climbed out of the carriage, "My apologies for the emergency, we were going to head straight for Balmoral, but the night seems to be closing in on us rather rapidly and we thought we thought to stop while it was still light," she smiled at him, "And how is Lady Isobel?" I assumed she would have been the man's wife.

The man looked hesitant even to reply, "She's…indisposed I'm afraid," he said to her, "She's gone to Edinburgh for the season," he looked slightly back at his servants, "And she's taken the cook with her, the kitchens are barely stocked," it sounded to me like he didn't want us to be here at all, "I would not blame Your Majesty if you wanted to ride past," Yep, definitely he didn't want Queen Victoria to be here, probably worrying about how much money it would cost him.

"Oh no, not at all," she waved away his excuses, "I've had quite enough carriage exercise," I coughed into my hand at that, she wasn't the one who had to walk ten miles to get to this house, "And this house is charming," she seemed to struggle to find the words, "If rustic. It's my first visit to this house. My late husband spoke of it often, the Torchwood Estate," Rose wrinkled her nose at me for that but I ignored her to look up at what seemed to be a telescope sticking out of the roof, "Now," the Queen looked at us, "Shall we go inside? And please excuse the naked girls,"

The Doctor grinned at that, "They're both feral children. I bought them for sixpence in old London Town," he informed Sir Robert gleefully and I shot a mock glare at him, "It was them or the Elephant Man and there were two so I decided they were a better offer,"

"Thinks he's funny but I'm so not amused," Rose said bluntly to the Queen, who merely stared back at him, "What do you think, ma'am?" Queen Victoria merely smiled at her before disappearing into the house, "So close," Rose muttered and I elbowed her slightly as the Doctor gave her a knowing look. My attention was caught as what looked like the butler glared silently at us and the guards before disappearing after the Queen. What was his problem with us?

"Makerson and Ramsey," Captain Reynolds ordered two guards, "You will escort the property," Two soldiers walked to the carriage to take out a small box, which Rose, the Doctor and I all stared at with unrestrained curiosity. What was in there I wonder? "That's Property of the Crown," Captain Reynolds had clearly seen us watching it, "And you will dismiss any further thoughts about it," he moved off and I returned to looking up at the house.

"Coming along, Mary-Anne?" the Doctor suddenly asked me and I looked over to where he was standing with Rose by the large front door, "Sir Robert's going to show us around the house, supposed to be interesting,"

"I don't like it here," I said to him, looking up at the large telescope again, "This place is wrong," I walked past him, out of the slight rain that had decided to drizzle down, "We should never have come here, there's something in the walls," I told him, "I'll tell you later tonight," he only nodded and we caught up with Rose and the rest of the party as Sir Robert started to talk about his family's ancestral home. This obviously was going to take a while.

* * *

After about an hour of Sir Robert talking, we finally wound up in a large room which held the large telescope that I had spotted when I was outside the house. It looked rather large for simple stargazing, "This, I take it, is the famous Endeavour," Queen Victoria looked at the contraption with pride, "It is perhaps larger than I thought it would be, but it is marvellous to behold. Truly a work of art and beauty," I raised my eyebrow at that, it didn't look that spectacular. It was just a telescope, not something that would revolutionise anything that happened to be in the future.

"All my father's work," Sir Robert explained to us, "Built by hand in his last years and became some of an obsession to him. He spent his money on this rather than caring for the house or himself," I nodded slightly, that must have been some obsession, "I know nothing about it," he admitted, "To be honest, most of us thought of him a little, shall we say...eccentric," that must have been putting it mildly from his face, but the Doctor merely grinned at that, "I wish now that I had spent more time with him and listened to his stories,"

"I wish I'd met him," the Doctor said smiling, "I like him, and that thing is beautiful," I wrinkled my nose at that. It didn't seem to be that beautiful if I was honest, "Can I?" he gestured to it and Sir Robert nodded. The Doctor happily skipped over to it and I followed him to look up the magnification. I couldn't see anything through it and I let the Doctor look through it instead, "I don't suppose you know what it's modelled on?" he inquired to Sir Robert.

"Like I said," Sir Robert shrugged, "I know nothing about it,"

"It's a bit rubbish," the Doctor looked through the telescope, "How many prisms has it got? Way too many," he grumbled and I raised my eyebrows, looking down at him, "The magnification's gone right over the top," I nudged him with my foot, giving him a silent signal that he ought to stop talking right now in order to preserve his head, "That's stupid kind of..." He caught my look at him, "Am I being rude again?" He asked me quietly and I nodded slowly, and he cleared his throat, changing track, "But it's pretty, very pretty," he amended.

Rose looked over at the Queen, "Thought you might disapprove, Your Majesty," she said innocently and I watched the other lady, "Stargazing? It's a bit fanciful," she really was trying to go for it, "Isn't that a bit fanciful?" Her smile faltered a little as Queen Victoria only blinked off her comments, "You could easily not be amused or something?" Not a flutter from her, "No?"

"This device surveys the infinite work of God," the sovereign informed us happily and the Doctor shook his head at her. I shared a look with him who wrinkled his nose a little at me. He was probably still hung up on the fact that the telescope didn't actually work, "What could be finer? And the imagination of it should be applauded as well. Sir Robert's father was an example to us all," she looked fondly at the contraption, "A polymath steeped in science and maths but also well versed in folklore and fairy tales,"

"Stars and magic," the Doctor grinned, "I like him more and more,"

"Oh my late husband enjoyed his work," Queen Victoria reminisced, before stepping closer to us, "Prince Albert himself was acquainted with many rural superstitions, coming as he did from Saxe-Coburg," I nodded along with her words although I had no idea where Saxe-Coburg was. Somewhere in Germany, wasn't it? She turned to Sir Robert who looked at her attentively, "When Albert heard about your local wolf, he was transported,"

"Local wolf?" I asked nervously, looking at the Doctor, "They have a local wolf?" he merely shrugged, and I looked over to Sir Robert, "No one said anything about a local wolf. Potential wolves, perhaps, but not actual wolves as in an actual stories. What is the story?" he seemed hesitant to speak, "All friends here, Sir Robert,"

He looked like he was just about to speak before one of the footmen stepped forward, "Excuse me, sir," he said to the other man and I frowned as I looked at the man. It was the same man that had glared at us just before we had entered the house, "Perhaps Her Majesty's party could repair to their rooms. It's almost dark," he seemed to glare at man as if he was doing something wrong. It seemed very weird, even for what I assumed was Victorian values.

"And then supper," Queen Victoria said, looking at them both, before flicking a gaze back at Rose and I, "And Sir Robert, could we find some clothes for the Misses Tylers? I'm tired of nakedness,"

"It's not amusing, is it?" Rose was really trying to get her to say it, and I rolled my eyes at her attempt, not trying to hide a smile as she failed as Queen Victoria merely gave her a simple look. She probably already knew what Rose was desperately trying to do. It was never going to work.

"Sir Robert, your wife must have left some clothes," the Queen said to him, "See to it," the man only nodded, "We shall dine at seven, and talk some more of this wolf," she smiled at him, "After all there is a full moon tonight. Such perfect coincidence, don't you think?" the man bowed to her as she swept out of the room.

"Oh great," I muttered, "So a local wolf story and a full moon tonight," I looked over at the Doctor who was admiring the telescope again, "This so better be worth it," I informed him, "Because you know…Sheffield is always another option," I walked over to a footman, "Could you take me to my room please?" he nodded and I threw a look back at the Doctor, "I'll speak to you later, Doctor, Rose," I tapped a salute at her, "Don't spend too long choosing something to wear," the footman led me out of the room, and I stared at the things that lined the walls, "This house is creepy as hell," the man glared at me, "What is your problem?"

He gestured to a door, "Your room, ma'am," he said, "Supper at seven," he walked past me, leaving me outside the room. I blinked at his back, so much for Victorian values, this was bordering on rude. But never mind him; I walked into the room before going to the wardrobe. It was half past seven now, I had a few minutes to decide what on Earth to wear.

I leafed through the clothes that were in the wardrobe, "This is ridiculous," I muttered before pulling a red dress out and changing into it quickly. I stared at myself in the mirror, it didn't look too bad, thank heavens for my dark hair, I didn't think I could wear this if I hadn't dyed it. I picked up my bag, opening it up, and taking out my squareness. It still had battery, good. Somehow I definitely thought that I needed it, especially with those creepy footmen lurking around the house.

I poked my head out of my door, looking around. So which way was to the Doctor's room?

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of looking around the house, and bumping into half as many soldiers, I finally knocked on the Doctor's door, "Come in," I heard him call and I walked inside. His room looked exactly like mine, complete with wardrobe and dresser. Not particularly imaginative I had to say. "Doesn't someone look lovely?" I turned to look at the man himself who looked exactly the same in his suit, "Red suits you,"

"Oh…" I looked down at what I was wearing, "I thought that it was the best one there," I explained, "It's a little frilly,"

"You look lovely," he assured me and I blushed slightly at his compliment, "A very Victorian lady at that," I wrinkled my nose at him, "And very nice for your birthday as well, although the bag is a rather odd choice as well,"

"Well, there's no point not to be ready for anything," I blinked innocently at him, "Anyway, knowing you something will come up, although I'm hoping that it has nothing to do with that wolf people keep talking about, because I'm not that good with something like that because you know that I really don't like wolves or anything to do with them," he hugged me tightly and I smiled into his shoulder, "And I should really stop panicking, shouldn't I?" I whispered to him.

"It's your birthday," he said to me, "Relax and enjoy it," I mock sighed as if it was hard for me to do exactly that, "And you get to meet Queen Victoria," I smiled at that, and he looked at me seriously, "Why didn't you tell me?" I looked away slightly awkwardly, "You thought that I wouldn't want to know that it was your birthday?"

I shrugged, "You're nine hundred years old, Doctor," I explained, "You've lived my life tens of times over and over, seeing people getting older and older. I didn't want you to think that I was one step to becoming older and older," I pushed back a bit of stray hair, "Didn't want you to think that I was one step closer to dying," an odd look passed over his face at that comment, "And besides, I'm only nineteen, it's not like being one hundred or anything. Just one last year of being a teenager and then I'm a proper adult and everything,"

"Ahh but those are the best years," he grinned at me, "Growing up is overrated," I laughed at that, "Don't worry about me, your birthday is something to be celebrated," I grinned at him, "Suppose I have to get you something for your birthday," I rolled my eyes at that as we stepped out of his room. He had given me so much since I had met him, "I'm going to think about that, but first…supper with Queen Victoria,"

"Rose is so going to win that bet," I said to him as we passed a red coat, "And then who will be laughing? She will," I fell silent as a footman passed us, "Is it me or are they a little…weird?" I asked him quietly and he looked behind us at the man, "They don't seem…normal,"

"Victorians," he dismissed, "They're all odd," we entered the room, "Good evening, Your Majesty," he smiled back in the Scottish accent, "Sorry we're late," we sat down in two empty spaces, next to Captain Reynolds and Sir Robert who smiled worriedly at me. He still hadn't seemed happy since we had arrived at his house, "It's Mary-Anne's birthday today so we were just talking," I placed my hand to my mouth at that, "Rose not here then?"

"Miss Tyler has not arrived yet, sir," Queen Victoria informed us, "We were just settling down to hear Sir Robert's story," the man looked at the table, and I picked up my glass of water, "The both of you make for a very handsome couple," I coughed on the water that I was drinking at that, "Reminds me of when my late husband was alive, he looked at me like that," I didn't look at the Doctor as I was drinking the rest of my water. I was sure that my face was as red as a tomato at those words. Typical, I come for supper and get informed of that.

The door opened and the butler came in, holding a glass bottle, "Your companion begs an apology, Doctor, Miss Tyler," he said to us, "Her clothing has somewhat delayed her,"  
"Oh that's all right," the Doctor said to him, "Save her a wee bit of ham, she'll be able to eat it later," I looked at the Doctor at that and he shrugged innocently at me. I shook my head at him, a smile on my face although I was fairly sure that I was still bright red.

"The feral child could probably eat it raw," the Queen quipped and the Captain burst out laughing. We all looked at him and he calmed down, "That was slightly witty perhaps," she stated to him, "I know you rarely get the chance to dine with me, Captain, but don't get too excited," that was a burning comment if ever I saw one, "I think I should contain my wit in case I do you further injury," the Captain looked rather shamefaced at that.  
"Besides, we're all waiting on Sir Robert," the Doctor looked at the other man, "Come, sir, you promised us a tale of nightmares,"

I swallowed at that, before looking at the Doctor, "I should go and check that my sister is still alive," I told him, placing the napkin on the table, "Knowing Rose, she's probably stuck between two different dresses and needs help deciding which one to choose," I bent my head to the Queen, "I beg your pardon, ma'am. I should see to my sister,"

"But you'll miss the story," she said to me, "And Sir Robert has promised that his story will be one of terror and nightmares this evening," she surveyed me carefully and I looked back equally, "You shouldn't miss it because your sister is a few minutes late for supper. I think that you'll definitely want to hear it,"

I smiled politely at her, "I am not one for terror stories about wolves, ma'am," I informed her, "I tend to avoid them as much as I possibly can. They're not much of a favourite of mine," I turned to Sir Robert, "My apologies, sir, that I will miss your story, I am sure that the Doctor will be able to recite it back to me later in the evening, but I really should see to my sister," the man merely nodded, almost afraid to look at me, "I'll be back in no time at all," I said to the Doctor who nodded, "Ten minutes...tops, it shouldn't take that much more time to decide what to wear for her," I saluted at Captain Reynolds, before exiting the room, and looking at the bald butler, "So my sister is in which room?" I asked him.

"This way," he led me down the corridor. I frowned as we passed several rooms and there wasn't a single sign of any soldiers. There always was at least one soldier there when the Doctor and I had walked to the dining room, but now there was no one. I stopped walking suddenly, and the man turned to me, "What is the matter?" he inquired to me and I looked at him silently, "You wanted to see your sister,"

"There aren't any soldiers," I said to him plainly, "Big house like this; you'd think that we would have passed several of them on the way over here. The queen is here after all," he merely stared at me, and I looked behind me, seeing another bald man behind, "We've also been walking for five minutes and we haven't walked up a single flight of stairs. What have you done with my sister?" a third footman joined us, "You have got to be kidding me,"

"You will come with us," he said to me.

I coughed slightly, "Don't mean to be rude or anything but you really don't look like a butler to me, you're too bald," I looked at the other servants, "You're all bald as well...please tell me you're not some kind of monk," they all took a step towards me, "Hang on, the others in the dining room are expecting me back in about ten minutes, it's really a bad idea to get on the wrong side of my friend, he's very clever about these things," I stepped back, "So what have you done with my sister exactly?" I swallowed, "And where have you put her?"

"She will be devoured if you do not do exactly what I tell you," he said and I raised an eyebrow, before running back down the hallway, turning around a corner before the other two servants could grab me. This was not my day today. I could hear the men run after me and I pulled out my gun, pointing it at the men following him. I really didn't want to hurt them if I couldn't help it.

The men stopped at the sight at me pointing a gun at him, "I'll fire this at you if you don't let me get back to my friends," I told him, setting it to become a sonic cannon as I remembered Jack had told me, "I know you're not servants, so what are you?"

The butler stepped closer to me, "You won't fire that," he said to me before wrenching it out of my hand and throwing it aside. The other men caught my wrists, dragging me down the corridor. Well my miraculous escape had clearly worked so well, "Take her to the beast," The what?! I started to struggle as I was taken further into the house. This was in no way any kind of fun that I really wanted on my birthday. And my squareness gun was left in the middle of the corridor as well so I couldn't get out of this. Damn.

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I was taken through a door and I stared into the darkness as I saw a few dozen men and women sitting on the ground, "Well at least I found where Rose had got to," I said blithely, my hands were manacled tightly to join the other. I looked down at the sight of my sister sitting on the floor still in her dungarees, "Really I was just getting worried about the whole situation," I rolled my eyes sarcastically at the man in front of me, "Just what I needed on my birthday, first nuns on New Earth and now monks in Victorian Scotland. I hope you're proud really. Because I have to tell you that this is a very big mistake on your part..." The man stared at me as he manacled my other hand, "Just a word of warning," the men left the room, "They are monks, aren't they?"

"They're from the Monastery from the Glen of St Catherine," a man said to me and I nodded before sitting down next to Rose, "What's going on up there?" he asked me, "We were just taken here as the monks stormed the house capturing the Master and My Lady," he nodded to a woman who was obviously Lady Isobel, "Is Sir Robert all right?"

"Other than being forced to do the Monks from Hell's bidding?" I questioned, "Yeah, he's fine. Although for how much longer is anyone's guess. He's currently regaling Queen Victoria and Captain Reynolds with a story about a wolf. I came to find my sister," Rose gripped my hand tightly, "The Head Monk said something about being taken to a beast," I looked at the terrified faces, "Any ideas about what that was all about or am I supposed to guess?"

A hissing noise echoed behind me and I closed my eyes as Rose gripped onto my hand incredibly tightly. That would be the beast then, wouldn't it? I turned slowly around to see a man sitting comfortably inside a cage staring at me almost curiously, "That's the beast," Rose whispered to me, sounding terrified.

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**So how did you like that as a chapter? Sort of not much happening but a lot of things beginning? Do tell me how you thought about it and I will try to update as soon as possible, which is likely to be soon as I now have Internet Access which is lovely.**

**:)**

**Oh and if anyone has any questions, do ask me. I love getting questions and I love answering them as well. Just put a little note in the box below.**


	14. Tooth and Claw: Part 3

**Hello! how is everyone? Hope you're all good and your days are nice and sunny. Unlike mine which is just...rainy.**

**thank you to all those that reviewed. Sailormajinmoon, skidney and DragonRose4. Thanks to JanetClarke, LadyGryffindor313, Raccoon Girl, and Sherlockian082994 for following/favouriting the story as well. Always lovely to know that people are reading this story.**

**DragonRose4: You'll definitely find out what she does in this chapter. And believe me she's not going to be happy about this. Thank you so much for the lovely review :)**

**skidney: As always I love your reviews. Thank you so much for writing them. Every word counts :)**

**sailormajinmoon: I know..I rotten luck for her but I really couldn't resist doing it for this story. Seemed far too good to pass up. Don't worry about the squareness gun...and I think that Mary Anne will definitely have some words for the Doctor after all this. And I love that movie :)**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine...ever. Most unfortunately.**

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Tooth and Claw: Part 3

I stared at the man inside the cage, not really understanding how the person inside could be a beast. I didn't really want to answer my own question about that. That answer might just make me as scared as the others in this cellar, "Don't make a sound," Lady Isobel said quietly to me and I looked at her, "They said that if we scream or shout then he will slaughter us," I frowned at that slightly, "If we make a noise then he will devour us whole,"

"But he's in a cage," I replied to her, pointing at the man who looked around the same age as I was. He certainly wasn't as old as the other monks that were upstairs, "You can see that, he can't get out of that cage. It looks to be pretty strong metal. Even if they said that he would be able to eat us, he can't get through that cage. He's a prisoner in there, same as all of us. If he can't get out of there then there's nothing to be afraid of. He's the same as us,"

"He's nothing like us," she whispered to me and I looked back at the man, his head was bowed, "That creature is not mortal," the man raised his head, opening his eyes to show nothing but blackness. The other people made whimpering noises at the sight of them, but I didn't react to the sight, "You see, that creature does not belong on this world,"

"So he has to come from somewhere, that'll be useful," I stood up, ignoring Rose's pull on my arm, "He's not going to escape from there at the moment," I reasoned with her, "We should find out where he's from,"

"Don't enrage him, child," a man on the floor said to me, "He'll kill you,"

I ignored the words, "Who are you?" I asked the man, walking towards the cage as far as the chains would allow me to go. I pushed down the terror inside of me, "I'll accept that your body is human, at least you look human, but who are you inside that body?" I sat down, staring at the man through the slates in the cage, "I know that you're not human,"

"My body is human flesh and blood," the man said to me and staring at me with that curiosity that seemed to burn right through. There were more whimpers from behind me but I refused to looked behind me and lose my nerve, "So hot and damaging," he continued, "I've lived on this planet the same as you,"

"But what are you inside him?" I pushed, moving a little closer, "Because I don't think that you belong in that body, you seem too...I don't know," I swallowed, "Clever for someone that looks twenty years old. So…who is talking to us right now?" he merely smiled, "What planet are you from? Designation number, date, anything. Believe me; I can believe anything these days so you won't see me disbelieving you,"

"Oh, intelligence," he bared his teeth at me and I recoiled slightly in revulsion at the sight of the rotten colour, "You're quite right. This body was born ten miles away," I shifted a little closer, "A weakling heartsick boy stolen away by the Brethren for my...cultivation," so that's what the monks had been doing with whatever this alien was. I turned my attention back to the man as he leaned closer to the bars, "I carved out his soul and sat in his heart," I must have showed some disgust on my face because he next said, "You recoil from that sentiment, does it revolt you?"

"You killed a boy that did nothing to you," I answered him, "And you didn't just kill him, you used his body, his voice and his life to sustain your apparently parasitic existence. Yes, I would say that it disgusts me somewhat," I nodded, "And I have the feeling that you've been here for some time, I wonder how many boys you've infected and grown into. Certainly more than one I think, although I'm guessing at that. This body could have been enough to sustain you for a long time,"

"Yes, certainly more than one," he blinked at me, those eyes that had no pupil in its centre, "I have been here for nearly three hundred years," I swallowed at that, mentally counting how many people that had to be, so many boys and so many lives used for this, "So many questions...and so much fear towards me,"

I shook my head, "You're just a man, and no matter what's inside you, at the moment that's all you are," I leaned forward, "And that doesn't scare me one bit. Not right now," I held his gaze before mustering the breath to carry on this semi interrogation, "But what I want to know right now, at this precise moment in time while me and my sister along with what seems like the entire household staff are all tied up, is what is inside that human body? That thing that's controlling the boy,"

"You know me as I know you," the man said, tilting his head, and I raised an eyebrow, "The Wolf dogs your footsteps even as you walk ever closer to the edge of your destruction," my head shot up at that, shock pouring through me, "You were all alone in the dark, cut off from every spark of life but the Wolf pulled you back into the living breathing world," I was frozen in place at his words, "And yet you run from the Wolf, so frightened of it touching you again when all it wants to do is consume you completely, making you burn brighter,"

"You can't know about that," I choked out, "How can you possibly know about that, you weren't there. No one was there, so how did you know about it," the man laughed, "What happened was two hundred thousand years in your future, you can't..." I halted my words, forming my next sentence carefully, "I never said anything about a wolf so what makes you think there was one,"

"The girl who died and died again, saving no one," he informed me and I closed my eyes, and I could feel my heart beating frantically, "I can see the Wolf in your eyes, it's there, same as me. What are you?" I said nothing to him, "You don't know what you are anymore," he sounded gleeful, "It changed you so much and no one understands, not your friends, not your family. We are so far away from home, are we not?" It was talking as if I was somehow exactly like it.

This was the hardest thing to summon up the courage to continue to talk to this thing that I was almost certain was a werewolf, "If...if you want a way to get home," I started before pushing on, knowing that I had to do this even if I was terrified of what this person was, "If you need a way to get home then we can get you there. My friend has transport that can get you back to where your home is, and you can be amongst your people once again. You don't need to stay here; you don't need to be in a prison. We...we can help,"

"Why would I leave this place?" He inquired, and I shook my head, not knowing what he was talking about, "A world of industry, of workforce and warfare," I looked down, shaking my head, "I could turn it to such purpose," Why did every alien we meet think that this was a good idea, hadn't they seen the countless attempts before them? And hadn't they seen the countless failures on others parts? The man looked at me with glee, "I would migrate to the Holy Monarch," he told me.

"You mean Queen Victoria?" I asked him, wrinkling my nose, "I don't know, you might be better off in the body you're in," I bit my lip but the question struggled out of my mouth. "Why would want to migrate to her? She's a little old lady,"

"With one bite I could pass into her blood," he remarked, staring innocently at me, "And then it begins, the Empire of the Wolf," So I was right, he was some kind of a werewolf...a real living werewolf, and on my birthday as well. Ian Drury was looking to be really nice at the moment, "And you wouldn't be able to stop me, even with everything that you possess," he slammed against the bars, and the people behind me that I had almost forgotten let out screams, "I could take you apart piece by piece leaving nothing behind," I shook slightly, "Even if the Wolf does follow at your footsteps,"

"I told you I don't know anything about that!" I insisted, "I really don't!"

His hands curled around the bars, "You burn like the sun," he said and Rose pulled me back, and this time I allowed her to do so. I felt how much I was shaking as I look at her hands. I hadn't even realised, "But all I need is the moon," he grinned at me, "And when I am free...I will feast on the flesh of your Burning Wolf," I really hoped that he didn't mean me but his sickening smile seemed to indicate the latter, "Better run, little girl, I can taste your fear and I will hunt you down as you run from me,"

Rose turned my head towards and I met her eyes, "Don't look at him," she ordered me and I shakily nodded at her, "Don't listen to a word that thing has to say, you've tried to reason with it and it hasn't worked. You've done enough for now," light suddenly streamed into the cellar and I couldn't help but stare as the man pressed his face to the bars, looking at the moonlight. This couldn't be happening to me now, "Right...it's my turn now," Rose looked at the staff, "All of you! Stop looking at him, Flora!" She addressed one of the maids, "Don't look at him,"

"Rose..." I said distantly, watching as the man removed his cloak, showing pale flesh underneath, "Rose, tell me there's no such things as werewolves," I turned to her, and if her eyes showed a fraction of what I feeling then we were in trouble, "No such things as witches, vampires or werewolves, it's just...fiction that we were told as children in books as something to scare us. It's real, it's just a story. Tell me that it's all just a dream in my head...Please,"

"I'm sorry," she whispered and I nodded tightly, "But we need to get out of here, so everyone grab hold of this chain and pull!" I started yanking on the chain, hearing a crunch of bone behind me, "I said pull!" Rose ordered, "Stop your whining and pull! That includes you, Your Ladyship," she ordered Lady Isobel, "Now come on!"

I pulled along with her, praying in my head that this would work. Because I really didn't want to die here. In a cellar with something that was the epitome of my nightmares transforming behind me. Something that had promised would tear me apart and kill me. I really did not want to die with just this left for me. Not this time, I did not want to fall back into the darkness on today of all days, and I did not want to be left to the mercy of a wolf that seemed to know me somehow.

The chain suddenly broke as a growl sounded behind me. There was an actual wolf in the room with me right now, a wolf that had no inhibitions and would hunt us down, every last one of us without any type of mercy. I turned to look at it, seeing a large wolf trapped inside the metal cage, but I could see that it was straining to get out of the box. It was too large and eventually it would be able to get out of there by sheer force and size of the bloody thing.

The door suddenly burst open and I saw the Doctor and Sir Robert run into the room, "Where the hell have you been?!" Rose demanded of the man, as she pulled off the chains. Of course now they opened when the wolf was in the room. So bloody typical of the whole thing, "Alice…don't look at it," she warned me and I attempted to smile at her, "I mean it," I let my hands drop to my sides when she finally pulled them off.

"Oh that's beautiful," I closed my eyes at the Doctor's words, really hoping that he wasn't talking about the wolf that was in the room, "You really are," so he was talking about the wolf. Rose grasped my hand as she pulled me out of the room, away from the werewolf. A horrible shiver ran up my neck as I heard the creature howl into the night, "Come on, you two," the Doctor shouted behind us, "You've got to keep moving!" I didn't even feel like glaring at him.

The hallway was a shambles when we arrived with everyone talking over each other to try and kill the werewolf that I was almost positive was right behind us. The steward was handing out guns and Lady Isobel was gathering up the maids, and leading them towards the kitchens. I suppose it was the best thing for them. The less people in danger was the better. The Doctor was busy trying to remove the manacles on my wrists. It wasn't really helping that I was shaking uncontrollably.

"I could be any form of light modulating species triggered by specific wavelengths," the Doctor was telling me, as he trying to get them off, "Did it say what it wanted?" I was looking at the entrance where the wolf would come down, "Mary-Anne?" I turned towards him, "Are you all right?" he asked me, concerned and I nodded back at him, "You sure?"

"Yes," my voice came out as a whisper and I swallowed trying to clear the dryness, "Yes, it wanted…many things. The throne, the Queen, the crown," and me, I felt like adding on to that sentence, remembering that it had promised to rip me apart piece by piece and I shook my head slightly, "You name it, it wanted it. A world of…warfare and industry with the largest Empire on Earth," I tried to smile but failed miserably at that. There was a loud bang at the other end of the corridor and I involuntarily gripped the Doctor's arm as he made his way towards it, "Don't," I said and he looked at me silently. I let go of his arm, but he took my hand tightly as we walked and looked at the other end. The wolf was standing there, panting slightly but it growled when it looked at me and the Doctor pulled me back where the men were lined up to shoot.

"Fire!" the Steward shouted as the wolf entered the hallway, and it recoiled as the bullets rained down upon it. I frowned slightly seeing that it still appeared to be completely fine, "Fire!" another round went off and the wolf disappeared from sight, although I was fairly certain that it was merely lying in wait for us.

"All right, you men," the Doctor said to the others that seemed to be rather satisfied with their work, "We should retreat upstairs. Come with me," the Steward merely scoffed, before walking forward. I let out a frightened squeak, "I'm telling you that we have to go back upstairs. Queen Victoria is up there with no idea of what's going on,"

"I'll not retreat," the man informed us, "The battle's done, there's no creature on God's Earth that can survive such an assault," I merely turned away from him, "I will sleep well tonight with that thing's hide upon my wall," he walked over to the entrance of the corridor before smiling triumphantly at us, "It must have crawled away to die," I heard the roar before I saw the wolf and the Doctor pulled me away from the sight of the creature ripping apart the Steward as we ran into the next room, hearing the screams of the other men behind us.

"Sir Robert?" I looked up to see Queen Victoria run down the stairs, "What's happening?" I had forgotten that she probably knew absolutely nothing about what was going on in the room that was behind us. She had been able to keep away from all the violence until now which wasn't particularly good when considering the Wolf was also intent on infecting her with its parasitic influence, "I heard such terrible noises," there was a scream from behind us, "What on Earth was that?"

Sir Robert pushed forward, "Your Majesty, there's no time to explain," He said apologetically, "But we've got to get out of this house as fast as we can," he looked around, "But where is Father Angelo? Is he still here?" because he was just who we really needed right at this moment. The head monk wouldn't allow us to get anywhere if he could help it.

But Queen Victoria looked rather shifty as she replied, "Captain Reynolds disposed of him," I raised an eyebrow at that. If that was the case then why wasn't Captain Reynolds here?

The Doctor tried the front door, "The front door's no good, it's been boarded shut," he looked at the small woman, "Pardon me, Your Majesty, you're going to have to leg it out of a window," we hurried into another room, and Sir Robert opened a door. Instantly bullets hit the window, ricocheting off the metal frame work and we all ducked to avoid getting hit. I peered out into the night seeing the red garb of the monks. They looked more like the type of monks that dabbled in martial arts rather than prayer, "I reckon that the monky-boys want us to stay inside," the Doctor remarked.

"Do they know who I am?" the Queen demanded.

"Yeah, that's why they want you," Rose said and Victoria eyed her, "The wolf's lined you up for a…biting," that had to be the worst explanation of what was happening at the moment. But seeing as we were currently on the run from the creature at the moment, it would have to suffice. I gripped onto the Doctor's hand as a howl tore through the room, "It's getting closer," she looked at the Doctor, "I don't suppose you have a good idea on what to do now?"

"Yeah…we run," the Doctor said, and she looked at him disbelievingly, "You got any silver bullets on you?" he asked and she rolled her eyes, "There we are then, we run," he turned to the Queen, "Your Majesty, as a Doctor, I recommend a vigorous jog. Good for the health," he took her hand, "Now come on!"

We fled the room, running as fast as we could up the stairs to wherever the Doctor was leading us. I could hear the wolf thumping down below us, racing up the stairs as we ran and I knew that it would easily catch up with us, especially as we didn't exactly know where to run to. And there was the danger of not running quick enough. Clearly Queen Victoria didn't run very often by the way she was running at the moment. Or perhaps it was the dress.

We turned a corner, and I caught a glimpse of the wolf at the other end of the corridor we had just run down. We wouldn't have a hope in hell trying to escape them, I thought, until I noticed which corridor we had just come down. I knew where we were now, and I looked down to see my squareness gun to the side of the corridor. I quickly picked it up, before turning it around, aiming it at the wolf and pulling the trigger. The wolf seemed to be punched backwards and it retreated down another corridor.

"What on Earth was that?" Queen Victoria asked me.

I tapped the gun, "Squareness gun," I answered her, "Sonic cannon," and it had been drained of batteries, typical, "One shot wonder, I'm afraid, the batteries dead," I looked at Rose, "I think we owe Jack our lives," she nodded, breathing heavily. Captain Reynolds suddenly appeared besides me, holding a revolver, "Oh, someone's turned up then, where have you been?"

"I went to look for the property, Your Majesty," he addressed the older woman, "It had been taken. The chest was empty,"

"I have it," she answered, but I couldn't muster up the energy to be interested in what they were talking about. That wolf was nowhere in sight and I didn't trust the silence that it gave off.

"Then remove yourself, ma'am," he replied, before reloading the gun, "I'll take this position and hold it. You keep moving for God's sake. Doctor, you stand as Her Majesty's Protector," he cocked the gun, "And you, Sir Robert," he turned to the other man, "You're a traitor to the crown,"

"Bullets can't stop it!" the Doctor insisted.

"They'll buy you time!" Captain Reynolds retorted, "Now run!"

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**So what did you think? Hope it met to everyone's standard.**

**I did change the whole conversation between the wolf when he is all trussed up in that cage for several reasons. One I wanted to make it a lot more malevolent and more...I don't know, more of a threat than it was in the episode. Which to be fair, it did seem to just be running around after them, roaring at several points. And second, I sort of wanted make Mary Anne's fear of wolves go a bit deeper. Take that how you will.**

**Anyway...nearly reached 80 reviews on this story which is fantastic. I've decided to sent out a small sneak preview every ten reviews. Just to give something back.**

**Catch you next time.**

**:)**


	15. Tooth and Claw: Part 4

**Hello! Back again, only me. Hope everyone's having a good summer holiday so far. It's really speeding a long for me and I'm uploading this chapter at around 6am here in the UK as I'm jettisoning off in a car for seven hours to Cornwall. Always a fun journey to make, but I thought it would be better to do this now otherwise you won't able to get a chapter until Monday. Which I thought was a bit unfair.**

**Ahh we have nearly made it to 80 reviews. I'm so happy! Thanks to everyone who did review. Skidney, sailormajinmoon, dream lighting, and AirHead121. Thank you also to those that favourite/followed this story, DolciFool (I love that name) and ghostbuster03. Cookies all around.**

**sailormajinmoon: I'm glad you loved the chapter. The werewolf did say a great many things, didn't he? Was definitely one of my favourite part to write, mainly because it entails so much (just what will have to wait) :)**

**skidney: Thank you for the review as usual! You're super mega wonderfully awesome as well :)**

**AirHead121: She's definitely running for her life. Never ever going to stop :)**

**dream lighting: Will she be like Jack? Well... we'll just have to see, won't we? Good answer? :)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, never mid. (If it was, I'd definitely behave a trailer for the 50th anniversary by now)**

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Tooth and Claw: Part 4

We all set off down the hallway, leaving the Captain behind at his position. I really didn't want to leave him behind to suffer being ripped apart by a giant wolf, but there seemed to be no way of getting him to come with us. He was determined to give us more time, but there was no way that he would be able to stand against that thing and survive. I had already heard half a dozen men ripped to pieces, one lone soldier was not going to be enough to stop a werewolf. But as I turned back to try and get the man to come with us, I saw the Captain engulfed by the creature, ripping noises coming from where the body would be.

"Mary-Anne!" The Doctor grabbed my arm, and pulling me into the library, "Barricade the door!" he quickly shouted at Sir Robert and Rose and we stacked up everything that could be moved against the door, and I slumped against the wall, sliding down, "Wait a minute," the Doctor placed an ear to the door, "Shhh, shhh," he waved at us, "Wait a minute," the wolf behind the door howled as it scratched the floorboards, "It's stopped," he informed us, and I heard faint footsteps as the wolf padded away, "It's gone," we could all hear something moving around the room, "Is this the only door?" the Doctor whispered to Sir Robert.

"Yes," He nodded and I let out a long breath, my head hitting the wood behind me in relief, "No!" he suddenly realised and they quickly ran over to where another door lay, piling things in front of it, "That's it," he told us and I silently glared at him from where I was sitting, "It won't be able to get in now, we've sealed it out,"

"And sealed ourselves in," I added, ignoring the look from Rose at that, instead looking at the glass ceiling where the moon was hanging innocently in the sky. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, not wanting to stay here at all, "I don't understand, what's stopping the wolf from running in here and knocking the door down. They don't exactly look like they were built to protect people. They just look like normal doors. So why hasn't it got us yet? Is it just playing with us before it picks us off, one by one? What's it waiting for?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't know," he admitted and I hit my head against the wall in frustration, "Something inside this room I suppose," he walked around, inspecting everything, "What is it? Why can't it get in?" as long as it stayed out, I was all right with this scenario.

"I'll tell you what though," Rose looked at the Doctor, who frowned at her, "Werewolf," she laughed and he grinned at her. She looked down to where I was sitting, and I turned away from her, "Sorry, Alice," I didn't answer her, instead listening out for the wolf that seemed suspiciously absent from the corridors that surrounded us. I didn't need to hear her enthusiasm for that thing that was walking around and had already killed a lot of people and wanted to murder the rest of us.

Sir Robert sighed in the other corner having, it appeared, collapsed on a chair with nerves and fear, "I'm sorry, ma'am," he apologies to the Queen who admittedly I had completely forgotten about but appeared to just be standing in the middle of the room looking rather lost at what she was meant to be doing here. I suppose this hasn't been the idea trip north to Scotland, "It's all my fault," he added, "I should have sent you away. I tried to suggest that something was wrong," a bitter smile pulled at his mouth, "Did you think there was nothing strange about my household staff?" he inquired.

"Well," the Doctor shrugged, clearly unconcerned, "They were bald, athletic. Your wife's away," he pointed out, "I honestly thought you were just happy," I couldn't help but let out a giggle at that and he grinned down at me.

I looked over to where the Queen was standing. She looked rather affronted by the Doctor statement, "I'll tell you what though, ma'am," Rose said to her, "I bet you're not amused now,"

"Do you think this is funny?" the old lady demanded of her and she shook her head, "What, exactly, I pray tell me, someone please. What exactly is that creature?" she looked very angry at us, as if it was all our fault that we had been running for our lives down corridors. I couldn't blame her, she could easily get a heart attack at her age. That would change history quite quickly, although if she was bitten by the wolf then that would probably change history as well.

The Doctor scratched his ear rather shamefaced, "You'd call it a werewolf," he told her, "But technically it's more of a lupin wavelength haemovariform," because that made so much sense to all of us in the room. That was just asking for trouble.

The Queen also didn't look impressed, "And should I trust you, sir?" she inquired and he looked surprised at that, "You who change your voice so easily, what happened to your accent?" his mouth fell open as he clearly realised that he had been talking in his normal accent instead of the Scottish one that he had adopted before, "I'll not have it," she announced proudly, "No, sir. Not you, not that thing, none of it. This is not my world," she drew herself up to her rather admittedly short height as if it made a difference.

I lowered my arm, staring at her annoyed. We were trying to save her life and she was complaining, "That thing will try and kill us no matter if you believe that it's real or not," I stated and she looked affronted at my words, "Believe me, I don't take this as being very funny and I'd really rather not think about the fact that the creature currently running around wants to kill all of us in the most brutal way possible, but don't try to dismiss it. That thing will kill you whether or not you like it or not. Get used to the idea and perhaps we might live past this night,"

"Do you know who I am?" she asked indignantly.

"Surprisingly enough, yes," I answered sarcastically, "But at the moment I'm more scared of something else rather than what you think of me," I rubbed my eyes, before standing up and stretching tiredly, "So what do we do now then, Doctor?" I looked towards the man who was sniffing around the walls intently, as if trying to find out something, "Doctor, what are you doing?"

"Sniffing," he said distantly, "Don't mind me," I shook my head, impulsively opening and closing the fob watch, the clicking from it being the only noise within the library. I sighed slowly, closing my eyes, forcing myself to remain calm in this situation. I didn't need to get worked up about this, the wolf wasn't actually in here with us. I clicked the watch open faster, my mind on the doors of the library, "Mary-Anne?" I looked over to where the Doctor was, "What are you thinking about?"

I shrugged, "Just the doors of the library," I said to him, and he nodded, looking around the room interested in it, "Something in the walls," I shrugged my shoulders, "Nothing else really. Why, is it important?"

"Maybe," he walked around the library again, his head clearly somewhere else as he tried to think about what was happening here. I only hoped he could figure out how to get out of here alive before the wolf decided it would be a good idea to break in here. I watched as he placed a hand to the door, "Mistletoe," he murmured, before whirling around to look at Sir Robert who was still slumped in a chair, "Sir Robert, did your father put that there?" he asked and the man shrugged, "Can you try and remember, please?"

The man sighed, "I really have no idea," he confessed, "I suppose he would have, but he spent most of his money on the telescope rather than the library. He might have put it there just before he died. I can't really remember to be honest,"

The Doctor made a noise of slight annoyance, "Never mind," he walked over to the other door, "It's here as well," he hummed, "But a carving wouldn't be enough. I wonder...something in the walls..." he licked the wood panels and I grimaced slightly at that, "You were right, Mary-Anne, there's Viscum Album in the woodwork. The oil of the mistletoe, it's been worked into the wood like a varnish. How clever was your dad?" he grinned at Sir Robert, "I love him," he nudged me, and I looked up at his smiling face, "Powerful stuff, mistletoe. Bursting with lectins and viscotoxins,"

"And the wolf is what?" I shrugged, "Poisonous to it? Which is why is doesn't come through the doors. It's afraid of getting infected by the varnish in the walls?"

The Doctor nodded a little, "Poisonous...or allergic to it," he agreed, "Well...the wolf probably thinks that it is. The monkey-monk-monks need a way of controlling the wolf so it doesn't rip them apart during the full moon. They've probably trained it to react against certain things, like mistletoe," he grinned, "Brilliant idea, and now we've been saved some time because of it," he tapped the wood, "Nice and simple, the wolf won't be coming through these doors anytime soon, we've been given a very lucky break,"

"Nevertheless," Sir Robert piped up from where he was sitting, "That creature won't give up, no matter what's on the walls, Doctor," he sounded distressed and I remembered that his wife was still downstairs with the maids. I didn't even know whether they were still alive or not, "And we still don't possess an actual weapon to fight against it!"

"Oh your father got all the brains, didn't he?" the Doctor grumbled at the man, and I elbowed him. He was being rude, "I meant that one," he informed me, before going over to a bookshelf and pulling down the fabric covering the books, "You want weapons? We're in a library," he turned around putting on a pair of glasses, "Book! Greatest weapons in the world, this room's the greatest arsenal we could ever have," he threw a tome to me and Rose, and I looked at the cover. History of Torchwood House stared back at me, "Arm yourself,"

I looked through the book that I was holding, digging through the information hurriedly. The others were going through books as well, trying to find something that was important. The Doctor leant against the bookshelf that I was going through and I turned to him, "I'm sorry, Mary-Anne," he told me, "Nineteen years old and your worst fear is prowling outside, held back by mistletoe oil. Not exactly your best birthday, is it?"

"You could say that," I replied, leafing through a book before putting it aside and pulling out another one, "It certainly been the most interesting birthday I've ever had. A werewolf, monks from hell, and Queen Victoria all in the same say," I looked towards the window, "My last birthday I was in a small flat in London, watching the news, and trying to fix my laptop. Best birthdays are difficult to rate," I threw the book on the pile, and turned to him, "Next stop after this is to somewhere where there aren't any priests or monks or nuns, yes?" He nodded, "Oh good,"

There was a faint growling outside and I flinched away from the wall slightly, and he caught me easily, "Don't worry, it can't get in just yet," he assured me, "It's just a little frustrated that it hasn't been able to get to us yet,"

"Sorry," I rubbed my shoulders, "I'm still not too good with the idea of this wolf. It's a hard habit to break and well I..." I sighed, looking at the ceiling and chuckling bitterly, "Travelling with you should have changed all that, but here I am...scared of a stupid wolf. Werewolf as well. Werewolf that wants to eat us, it's not even a particularly nice one as well. Something that had to happen. I suppose I pissed off someone up above to earn this. Today of all days as well, just my luck really. Stupid thing to be scared of,"

"It's normal to be afraid of something," he answered, "It's not a weakness. It's a strength. You know when you should stop,"

"I freeze up," I contradicted him, "I can't move when I hear that thing, my heart goes at a hundred miles an hour and I...I can't seem to do anything about it," he looked at me calmly, "When it was human I talked to it...it knew that I had died...that I was alone down there. How could it have known that? I haven't told anyone apart from you, Rose, Mum and Mickey, so how could it know?"

The Doctor frowned, "Sometimes events change a person," he replied, "You can always recognise something within another person...often when you don't really want to see it. Perhaps the wolf can just see something within you that it recognises, nothing more," he hugged me tightly, "Don't worry," he whispered to me and I looked up at him, still tight within his arms, "I won't let it eat you or anything like that. You can trust me," I nodded at him, "Good...now we better get back to working this all out," I pulled out a book from the shelf, handing it to him, "Thank you very much, Miss Tyler,"

"My pleasure, Doctor," I said before walking up the stepladder carefully and looking through the books at the top, "So many books in a library and we're looking for something important," I pulled out another book, "Rose, this might help," my sister looked up from the book she was perusing, and I dropped it down to her, "A book on mistletoe,"

She looked through it, "A book on magic," she said and I shrugged before going back to the shelf.

"Hold on what about this?" I turned to view the Doctor walking towards the table, "Look what your old dad found," he said to Sir Robert, and I slid down the ladder to join him with Rose, "Something did fall to Earth," I looked at the picture in the book, a wood print of a star with a church nearby, "A spaceship fell to earth,"

"A shooting star," Sir Robert corrected and I looked at him silently, "In the year of Our Lord 1540, an almighty fire did burn in the pit," he perked up a bit, "That's the Glen of Saint Catherine, just by the monastery. The monks must have found something in there and it turned into the wolf," he frowned, "By why does it want the throne?" he asked us.

Rose cleared her through, "That's what it wants," she explained, "It said so when Alice was talking to it, the Empire of the Wolf," I sighed at that, "But this was three hundred years ago, why has it taken so long to do anything about getting it? What's it been waiting for?"

"Perhaps only a single cell survived," the Doctor reasoned, "Adapting slowly down the generations, it survived through the humans," he rubbed his eyes, "Host after host after host," he stared off into the distance, "Imagine it, the Victorian Age accelerated. Starships and missiles fuelled by coal and driven by steam. Leaving history devastated in it's wake," I grimaced slightly at that, for all the faults of the modern world, I much preferred to have that then a world which was still living in a time that didn't even have decent electricity.

Queen Victoria stood up suddenly, "Sir Robert," she addressed the Scottish man who turned to look at her, expectantly, "If I am to die here," he opened his mouth to protest at that but she held up a hand to stop him from speaking, "I would rather die than let that creature infect me," I agreed with that, "But that's no matter," she carried on, clearly putting that issue to another side, "I ask only that you find some place of safekeeping for something that is far older and far more precious than myself,"

"Hardly the time to worry about your valuables," the Doctor remarked looking at the book.

She blinked at him, clearly still not impressed with us, "Thank you for you opinion," she said coldly, "But there is nothing more valuable than this," she opened her handbag to take out a sparkling white diamond the size of my fist. I have to admit that my mouth dropped open at the sight of it. It was absolutely massive. I didn't think that I would see another diamond that big again, certainly not without a big piece of glass between it, "It's the Koh-I-Noor," she told us, "Given to me as the spoils of war. Perhaps it's legend is now coming true. It is said that whoever owns it must surely die,"

"Well that's true enough of everything if you own it long enough," he stated to her, "Can I?" he reached out his hands and she hesitated before handing it over to him, "The greatest diamond in the world," he murmured to Rose and me as we crowded in to look at it. I touched it gently, feeling how cold it was, "That is so beautiful," he grinned at us, "Do you know how much it is worth?" I shook my head, "They say the wages of the entire planet for a whole week," I laughed slightly, "Imagine how much that would be?"

"Good thing Mum's not here," Rose said looking at the large diamond, "She'd be fighting the wolf off with her bare hands for that thing,"

"And she'd win," the Doctor informed us and I let out a slight laugh at that. He looked at the Queen, "Why do you travel with it?" he asked her, sliding his glasses up his nose, "It's a bit dangerous, anyone could steal it and break it down to sell. It's not like it's a high security vault or anything. It's just in your handbag,"

She sighed, "I'm taking it to Helier and Carew, the Royal Jewellers at Hazelhead," she told us, "My annual pilgrimage, the stone needs recutting," I raised an eyebrow at that. What was she talking about? It looked absolutely perfect, "Prince Albert never thought it looked quite right. The shine, he said, was never perfect," she looked very sad, "But he died with it still unfinished,"

"Ahh," the Doctor interrupted her, "Now there's a fact. Prince Albert kept on having the Koh-I-Noor cut down. It used to be forty percent bigger than this, but he was never happy with it. He kept of cutting and cutting," he looked at Queen Victoria suddenly, "Unfinished," he murmured and I frowned at him, "Of course, it's unfinished. Oh yes," he threw the stone back to the Queen and she caught it, looking startled, "There's a lot of unfinished business in this house. His father's research, and your husband, ma'am, he came here and he sought the perfect diamond," he ran his hands through his hair, "Hold on, hold on. All these separate things, they're not separate at all, they're connected," he was getting very worked up about this, "Oh my head, my head!"

"Doctor!" I snapped at him and he looked at me, "The point of this?"

"Good point," he nodded, "Now, what if this house, it's a trap for you. Is that right, ma'am," she nodded at him, "At least that's what the wolf intended," I felt a cold chill come over me as I felt that something wasn't quite right, "But what if there's a trap inside the trap? What if his father and your husband weren't just telling each other stories. They dared to imagine that all this was true and they planned against it," I looked up at the ceiling freezing when I saw the silhouette of the wolf on the glass, "Laying the trap not for you but for the wolf," I tugged on his arm, "What?" he asked and I pointed upwards to where the wolf was, "Ahhh,"

"That wolf there?" I inquired and he nodded, "Everyone get out!"

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**And another chapter finished and completed. Hoped everyone liked it for the weekend and hope everyone does have a good weekend. Not too much rain.**

**Just another couple of reviews and I can put up a sneak preview. What type of preview would people like to see? It would have to be from Series 2 because otherwise it's just giving the whole game away.**

**What do you want to see?**

**So Long.**

**:)**


	16. Tooth and Claw: Part 5

**I have had the most mental week ever, just had so much work to do that I've pretty much slept at every available second that I could get which is why I didn't manage to upload this chapter until now which is a bit of a pity because I would have liked to do it earlier than today but never mind.**

**Thank you one and all to those that reviewed, skidney, AquilineFeline (twice!), melody 3, sailormajinmoon, and DragonRose4. You are all wonderful people. And thank you t I, Littlebirdd, MadTeaLady, and AquilineFeline for favouriting the story as well. cookies all around.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Tooth and Claw: Part 5

We shoved the pieces of furniture out of the way as the wolf crashed down through the ceiling and we ran through the door, and the Doctor closed the doors on it, "It won't stay there, it's too caught up in wanting to kill us," he told us, as we ran down the corridor as fast as we could, "We have to get to the observatory as fast as we can. Sir Robert..." he looked at the man, "Quick as you can,"

We all ran down the corridor and I heard the splinter of wood behind us as the wolf burst through the door. Rose screamed and I turned to see the wolf almost swipe down on her when load of water was thrown onto the wolf. It howled before retreating from where we were standing, "It was mistletoe," I looked to see Lady Isobel and the maids standing there holding an empty saucepan. They had worked it out like we had, and had actually turned it into a somewhat weapon. That was extremely clever, far better than we had done so far.

"Isobel," Sir Robert kissed his wife almost desperately. I looked away slightly, keeping a look out for the wolf. It had only been hit with the water, it would probably be back somewhat soon. I couldn't see it staying away for much longer, "Now, get back downstairs, and keep yourself safe," she nodded at him, before kissing him again, "Now go," the other women ran off after Lady Isobel, "Doctor, the observatory is this way?" he ran down one corridor, and we all followed him.

"I don't know if anyone else has noticed," I said to the Doctor as we ran towards the observatory, "But there were quite a few guards that accompanied us on the way over to the house. I know they were drugged but where are they now? Do you think that the wolf has eaten them? Or at the very least killed them?" I looked in front of me where the Queen was running to, "Or is it just me that's wondering?"

He ran a hand through his hair, "The wolf wants to pass into the Queen's bloodstream, and survive the transfer," he explained to me, "There will be a lot of questions asked if the Queen turns up alone at Balmoral without any of her armed guards. So the monks keep the guards safe and then when the deed is done the guards wake up without being any the wiser," we reached the doors of the observatory, "Ah, no mistletoe on these doors, because your father wanted the wolf to get inside," he told Sir Robert, "I just need time, is there any way of barricading it?" he asked.

"Just do your work and I'll defend it," Sir Robert said abruptly, and the Doctor frowned at him, "I'll find you time, sir. Now you better get inside," I realised what he was going to do, but the Doctor pushed me back when I was about to go forward, "Go,"

"Good man," the Doctor said before closing the doors, "He will buy us enough time," he assured me, "Don't worry," he turned to the Queen, "Your Majesty, I need the diamond," she looked affronted, "I need it for the purpose that it was designed for," she handed it over to him and he took my hand, running to a wheel, "Now, you two," he addressed Rose and I, "We need to lift this up so we get the moon into place," we started turning the wheels. When was the last time someone had oiled this thing? Well, probably not since Sir Robert's father had died, I supposed. How useless was that. If we were going to die because of some rusty cogs..."Come on!" the Doctor broke through my thoughts.

"Not exactly the right time for stargazing," Rose complained as we moved the telescope even further up. I winced horribly as I heard the screams of Sir Robert dying behind the closed door and I knew that the wolf was coming ever closer, "You said," Rose panted slightly, and I looked briefly at the doors where Queen Victoria was kneeling on the floor praying. Not the best place she could be doing that, I would have to argue. Especially if that wolf decided to come bursting through the door, "You said that this thing doesn't work,"

Doctor sighed exasperatedly, "It doesn't work as a telescope," he informed her, "Because that's not what it is," the telescope was lighting up slightly as we slowly inched towards the moon, "It's a light chamber, it magnifies the light, like a weapon. It'll kill the werewolf and hopefully stop it from killing the rest of us. We just need to power it up,"

"But with what?" Rose shouted at him, "There's no electricity!" he rolled his eyes like she was being completely thick and she turned to look at the moon, "Moonlight," she sucked in a long breath, "But the wolf needs moonlight, it's made by moonlight!"

"You're seventy percent water but you can still drown," he replied and the door suddenly exploded with the force of a wolf pounding it in. In other words, the whole thing was completely splintered. The light chamber suddenly powered up with the whole thing shining with moonlight. The Doctor slid the diamond into place just as the werewolf bore down upon Queen Victoria and moonlight hit the creature, lifting it into the air. I stared at it as it stayed aloof, the form shrinking back into the human one that it had been.

"Make it brighter," the man said to the Doctor, "Let me go," I frowned at the Doctor, that wolf had tried to kill all of us and now it wanted to be released. Slightly worrying, "Please," the man looked down at us and I could feel his eyes probing into me, "You know what it's like to be so far away from home, how something changes you so completely that you don't recognise yourself. Let me go," the Doctor looked at me, and I nodded slightly, understanding what the man was saying, "Thank you,"

The Doctor adjusted the magnification on the light chamber, the already bright light turning into something a lot more blinding and I saw the man turn briefly into a wolf, howling before disappearing into moonlight. I sighed as I slumped against the light chamber, it was over. Finally. I looked over to where the Doctor was walking towards Queen Victoria who was admiring something on her wrist, "Your Majesty?" he asked slowly, "Did it bite you?" she raised her head and I could see a slightly innocent expression pass over her face, "If that thing bit you...?"

She shook her head, "No, it's just a cut, that's all," she replied to him, "It was a splinter of wood when the door came apart, it's nothing," the Doctor reached for her wrist and she pulled it back from him, "It is nothing," she reiterated and I frowned slightly at her words. That was more than slightly suspicious, but I covered my expression when she turned to look at Rose and I, "Now, I think it's time to rescue the rest of the soldiers and arrest the remainder of the monks. I have had enough excitement for one day," and with that she calmly strode from the room.

I looked at the Doctor, "Is it me?" I asked him quietly, "Or is she taking this all rather...calmly," he nodded before striding after the Queen, Rose in tow, "Maybe it is just me," I walked after him, hesitating slightly when I saw the destroyed corpse of Sir Robert, his body mauled. I bent down, sliding his eyes closed before walking on towards where I knew the others had gone. Such a shame that so many people had to die just because of one single wolf. It wasn't fair to Lady Isobel that she had to lose a husband to buy a small piece of time for us.

* * *

*  
We found the soldiers stuffed inside a room, bunches of mistletoe surrounding them as they lay sleeping on the ground. Clearly they had been drugged and it took quite a while to get them awake. In the end they came round, looking like they had been drinking all night but when they saw the Queen they quickly sorted themselves out, falling back on protecting her which they really ought to have done to begin with. I wondered how tonight would have turned out if there had been more soldiers around to help with the wolf...but then I remembered how easily the Steward and the other manservants had been quickly torn apart.

"We've still got the monks outside to worry about," the Doctor said to the soldier that had replaced Captain Reynolds. I shuddered slightly as I remembered that there were the corpses of the Captain, Sir Robert and the rest of the household to worry about. A house full of skeletons indeed. I looked over to where Rose was comforting Lady Isobel who was crying into her shoulder. She shot me a looked that showed that she was still worried about what was going on outside, "They probably still think that the wolf is still here,"

"Don't worry, sir," the man said to him, "We still have the guns that the Steward and the others were using before they died. There is still ammunition left, and we will be able to take the monks on quite easily," the Doctor looked away annoyed, "It'll be very quick, sir,"

"Can't you take them out without resorting to death?" the Queen inquired, "It seems better to make sure that there isn't any more bloodshed in this house," she looked at Lady Isobel, "And despite everything, they are men of God. It wouldn't do very well to have them shot and killed without a chance to surrender. They do deserve that, at the very least," the solider nodded, walking away with the rest of the men. The Queen smiled at the Doctor, "There, now everything will have been resolved," she went over to Lady Isobel, relieving her from Rose.

I looked briefly at the Doctor, "I'm going to liberate my clothing from where it was," I told him, "I want to get out of this thing as soon as I can," I pulled at the Victorian dress, "Running in something like this wasn't the best experience,"

"I'll come with you," Rose volunteered and we slipped from the room, walking down the long corridor. I couldn't help but shiver as I remembered running through this corridor as a wolf chased after us, intent on snapping us up in it's mouth, "Interesting birthday," she remarked to me, and I nodded. Truth be told in the last half an hour, I had forgotten all about that, "Not something to tell Mum, I think. Although the diamond might be something to bring up casually. Don't think anything would really shock her at the moment,"

"Yeah," I swallowed, as I walked into the room that I had changed in earlier. My normal twentieth century was lying on the bed, and I quickly shrugged out of the dress that I was wearing, "You never said," I looked over my shoulder at her, and she frowned, "How you ended up being chained to a wall with the rest of the household. You were supposed to be coming to dinner,"

"Found Flora in the cupboard, one of the maids," she explained, "She told me what happened and I tried to convince her to get help. Stepped outside the room to see one of the guards on the floor, drugged and the monks grabbed me and shoved me in the cellar with the rest of them. I don't tend to make a habit of it, I have to say," my hands shook slightly as I pulled on my t-shirt, "Was only about fifteen minutes before you stumbled in," I could feel her eyes on me, "I'm sorry...I know how difficult that this day must have been,"

"I'll be fine," I brushed off, dressing myself quickly and turned to her, "It's done now, the wolf is dead," there was a volley of gunshots from outside my window, "And it appears that the monks aren't exactly long for this world, everything's done with," I tired to smile at her but she didn't look very convinced, "What can I say Rose? Everything is over now...Queen Vicky can return to her royal progress, Lady Isobel will probably sell the house and bury her husband, not necessarily in that order, and we will move on,"

"You were more scared than I have ever seen you," she said and I looked away, "You looked so frightened and I didn't know what I could possibly do to make a difference. But you managed to push past it, you overcome your fear,"

I shook my head, "No," I disagreed, "No, I didn't overcome it. All this has showed me is that there are things that can frighten me so badly that the only thing I can possibly do is run away from it," she frowned, "We ran from the wolf, Rose, we didn't actively help it. It was sheer luck that Sir Robert's father put in place the things he did. If he hadn't then we would be dead, and nothing would be able to put us back together again," I buttoned up my boots, "Just makes me wonder what happens when something happens that we can't help, something that does end us. I don't know if I can rely on something that...flimsy,"

She placed her hands on my shoulders, "We defeated the wolf today and we did it together," she stressed, "I promise you that I'm not going anywhere, so you'll have to live with that fact," I didn't smile at that, "And besides, anything is better than sitting alone on your birthday fixing a laptop," I did crack a smile at that, and she walked backwards, "You and me, Alice, it's always going to be you and me flying around with the Doctor in the TARDIS, and don't you forget it," she opened the door, "Catch me up,"

I stared at the closing door, "Nothing lasts forever," I murmured, feeling an icy chill rush over me, and I compulsively clicked the fog watch open and shut, "Oh shut up, Alice," I told myself, walking out of the room, firmly putting the feeling that someone had walked over my grave behind me.

* * *

*  
"Look who it is," the Doctor remarked when I came back into the room, "You've just missed the big announcement," I frowned at him, "The monks have been arrested, they're being escorted to the nearest prison in chains, and the Queen has informed us that we are to be knighted," I stared at him, "Sir Doctor, Dame Mary-Anne, and Dame Rose at Her Majesty's pleasure. I've never been knighted before...well," he scratched his cheek, "There was that one time but it didn't really count,"

"Aren't you technically a Lord?" I inquired of him, "Have they now demoted you?"  
He mock frowned at that, "No," he nudged me slightly, "This shall be very interesting, don't you think?" I nodded, "Come on...we wouldn't want to be late, she's through here," he grabbed my hand as we walked towards the other room, "I should have worn my special suit,"

"She's being rather nice about it," I noted, "I mean she wasn't very happy that all this was happening, was she?" he shrugged, "Probably just wants to get us out of her hair, get back to running the country," we walked through the doors where the Queen was standing with a sword in her hand and with Rose standing next to me we approached the Queen slowly, Lady Isobel by her side. The red coats seemed to be back on schedule with three of them being armed with guns once again.

Queen Victoria raised her sword, tapping it lightly on the Doctor's shoulders, "By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Sir Doctor of TARDIS," I muffled a smile at that, smoothing my expression out as she turned to me, "By the power invested in me, I dub thee Dame Mary-Anne of the Powell Estate," the sword tapped me twice and Rose nudged me slightly, "By the power invested in me by the Church and the State, I dub thee Dame Rose of the Powell Estate," she stepped back, "You may stand,"

We all did so, "Thanks, ma'am," Rose said, grinning at her, "They're never going to believe this back home," that was certainly something that was very much true. Mum wouldn't believe it in a million years, and I knew I would be very happy to inform her of it.

"Many thanks," the Doctor told her, before lowering his voice, "Your Majesty, you said last night about receiving a message from the great beyond," I looked up at him, this must have been after I left, "I think your husband cut that diamond to save your life. He's protecting you even now, ma'am, from beyond the grave," I smiled at that, holding his hand and squeezing it slightly. Everyone wanted a message from the people who died, and no one knew it as much as me how impossible that could possibly be.

"Indeed," she replied, "Then you may think on this also...that I am not amused!" I laughed at that as Rose punched the air in triumph, and the Doctor groaned with losing the bet, "Not remotely amused!" I bit my bottom lip to stop myself, "And henceforth...I banish you," I blinked at her as those words settled in. Oh dear, "I have rewarded you three, and now you are exiled from this empire, never to return," well that would certainly put a dampener on any future trips into this time period, "I don't know what you are, the three of you, or where you're from. But I know that you consort with stars and magic and think it fun. But your world is steeped in terror and blasphemy and death, and I will not allow it. Not to mention you are all insolent and rude," I rocked back slightly, she seemed very determined, "You will leave these shores, and you will reflect, I hope, on how you came to stray so far from all that is good, and how much longer you will survive this terrible life," she drew herself up, "Now leave my world, and never return!"

"As you wish, ma'am," the Doctor replied to her, and we slipped out of the room without another word. He sniffed as we walked towards the front door, "Well that's gratitude for you, you save a Queen's life and she banishes you for it. That's just typical,"

"Can she do that?" I asked, and he opened the front door, "Can she just say 'I banish you' and that's it? Unable to return to Britain again...well in Victorian times," he shrugged, "If this comes to bite us then I'm going to blame you..." I trained off as I turned to look up at the house, the large telescope still in place, "Still glad to be leaving this place...not exactly friendly towards us," I murmured.

I stared at the name of the house chiselled into wall, and I traced the words softly, Torchwood House, I wasn't likely to forget that name in a hurry. But as I traced it slowly, the feeling of cold death crawled up my spine, like a memory that desperately needed to be forgotten, "Hey!" Rose's voice broke me out of my thoughts once again and I turned to look at her, "Stand there all day and we'll get separated," I nodded once, "We've got a lift back to the TARDIS, the Doctor's been talking to a man who's going that way," she pointed to a cart, "Apparently he comes every day to bring meat and vegetables...rather lucky really,"

"Yeah," I agreed, looking back at the house.

"Something the matter, Alice?" she asked me, folding her arms and inspecting me carefully, "You look like you've seen a ghost, you look a bit peaky,"

"A night full of running will do that to you," I said to her, looping my arm with hers, "I just don't like this house...it's too alone," she rolled her eyes, "Probably just lack of sleep," I waved it off and we went to sit on the back of the cart, the Doctor still talking with the cart owner, "You know what?" she shook her head, "I will be so happy to get back to the TARDIS, put my feet up for a couple of hours and just let myself relax. Cup of tea included and everything,"

She nodded, "Sounds good," she answered as the Doctor came to sit next to us, "I think I might just join you in that," there was a jolt as the cart set off, "So it's about ten miles to the TARDIS, which at this rate will be forever," she flopped back looking up at the clear skies, before turning to the Doctor, "And you owe me ten quid,"

"Don't have any money," he answered her and she glared at him. I couldn't help but laugh at that, lying back on the cart to look at the sky along with my sister. Of course he never did. That was just brilliant.

* * *

*  
It was midday when we finally reached back to the TARDIS, and we hopped off the cart, waving goodbye to Dougal, the man whose cart it was, "No, but the funny thing is that Queen Victoria did actually suffer from a mutation of the blood. It's Historical record," I looked at him funny, was he serious? "She was haemophiliac, they used to call it the Royal Disease. But it's always been a mystery because she didn't inherit it. Her mum didn't have it, her dad didn't have it. It came from absolutely nowhere,"

"What and you're saying that's a wolf bite?" Rose asked, as we trod the long grasses to the TARDIS, "Queen Victoria's a werewolf?"

"Well maybe being haemophiliac is just a Victorian euphemism for werewolf," we both looked disbelieving at him, "Well perhaps not yet," he conceded, "But her children had the Royal Disease, maybe she gave them a quick nip, and I mean, a single wolf's cell could take a hundred years to mature. Might be ready...ooh," he grinned at us, "Early twenty first century,"

"Nah, that's just ridiculous," my sister answered, brushing back her hair and thinking about it, "Mind you...Princess Anne,"

I smiled at that, "And if you think about it, they're very secretive," I inputted, "We have no idea what they do in their private lives. Everything is planned around them, they schedule everything in advance. They could be planning around the full moon, and we'd never know," we went into the TARDIS, "And they love hunting and bloodsports,"

"Oh my God, they're werewolves!" she laughed, before pretending to howl. I collapsed on the seats as the Doctor set the TARDIS in motion, "Moving on then? I'm just going to make a cup of tea, do you want one?" I looked over to her, and nodded, "I'll just be a second," she disappeared down the hallway and I stretched out on the chair, yawning a little. Today had been very exhausting, very scary and befuddling all together. And had been banished from England all together. I guess that would be interesting to explain to Mum when we next saw her.

"You all right?" I looked over at the Doctor who was standing at the screen, "It's been rather a long day, hasn't it? Very emotionally difficult," I watched him carefully, "How are you feeling?"

I took in a deep breath, "I'll be fine," I informed him calmly, my fingers wrapped around the fog watch in my pocket tightly, "A cup of tea and a nice..." I yawned slightly, "A nice long sleep and I'll be on the mend...nothing for you to worry about," I looked at him blearily, "Actually I think that's a very good idea...sleep. I seem to have tired myself out. Fancy that," I stretched slightly, "I'm going to have a quick nap before we start zooming off again, just a few hours," I passed Rose in the corridor, stealing a cup of tea, "Going for a nap," I informed her, heading into my room.

I looked up at the bright blue ceiling flopping back into my bed, feeling my eyes droop slowly as I fell into, what was for once, a very dreamless and easy sleep.

* * *

*  
A blaring noise sounded next to my ear, and I bolted upright, wrenching myself violently out of sleep which made me feel a bit dizzy. I looked over to where my phone was deciding to ring loudly, and I sighed before answering it, "You have reached Alice Tyler's mobile," I said into it, yawning loudly, "As she was actually sleeping, you must come up with an actual excuse for calling her, and if she doesn't like it, she will hang up and go straight back to sleep in her bed. You have thirty seconds, Doctor,"

"Need to show you something," he answered and I sighed, "Come on...it's good. You wouldn't want to miss it, now would you?" I kicked the covers off me, stretching as I made my way to my door, "Are you on your way?"

"Yes, Doctor," I told him, before stumbling into the console room, blinking blearily at the man in question, "You wanted something?" I inquired to him, shutting my phone, and pocketing it, "Something that clearly demanded my attention far more than everything else which is why you phone me up instead of knocking on my door which is like three doors down and I am in my pyjamas. Something that clearly mattered more than what we humans know and commonly call sleep," I stopped in front of him, folding my arms and looking up at the taller person, "You called, dear one, and I answered,"

"Needed to show you something," he said and I raised an eyebrow, "It's good," he flung open the doors of the TARDIS, "Happy Birthday," I stared at the sight in front of me, my tiredness fading into the background, "Welcome to the beginning of the world," I stared at the brightly burning sun, "Well just after," a lump of rock whizzed past us and I saw a mass of rock moving around the sun, "The sun is barely beginning to burn, the Earth is nearly complete, just the final few lumps left, and the Moon to be created left," I half nodded at his words, "Couldn't go right to the start...TARDIS was a bit difficult with me, only wanted to stop here,"

"It's beautiful," I whispered to him, watching the Earth rotate around the new Sun, "We were all created out of this," I grabbed some of the rock that floated past the doors, crumbling it in my hands, "Just dust," I blew it gently off into space, "So terribly beautiful," I turned to look at him, "Why...do all this?"

"It's your birthday," he scratched behind his ear, "And I know how scared you were today," I looked away silently, "It's not something to be ashamed about, in any case I have to apologise to you. It was your birthday and I brought you to the one place that you didn't want to be. And I don't exactly carry money around with me, despite my betting with your sister. Least I could do was show you something amazing...another good memory," he held up his hand, grinning at me, "Also cupcake," I took it from him, smiling, "There's that smile I've been looking for," he pulled me down to sit down next to him our legs hanging out of the TARDIS, "Eventually the Earth will slow down, having compacted everything around it into that where," he explained, "Develop it's own atmosphere...start life,"

"Amazing," I murmured, kicking my legs through the air, and eating my cupcake, "And we are breathing...how exactly? Shouldn't all the air have been sucked out of the TARDIS by now?"

He looked down at me, "I've extended the atmospheric shell," he replied and I nodded at that, "We will be absolutely fine if we stay inside the TARDIS, so don't get any ideas about jumping out of here. That's a whole different birthday," I smiled happily at that, "I wanted to show you something..." I placed a hand over his mouth gently.

"I know," I told him, "You don't have to explain," I lowered my hand and he caught it with his own, curling his fingers around mine, "This has been the most interesting birthday I have ever had, Doctor, it really has," he smiled and I turned my body towards him, crossing my legs, "Travelling with you...has been the most amazing time of my life, and I wouldn't stop for the entire world," I turned my head so I could see my world, "Just watching it with you is enough and I really can't thank you..." Now it was his turn to place a finger on my lips, stopping me from speaking.

"Just promise me one thing," he said and I nodded, "Don't ever change," I smiled at him, before hugging him tightly. I sighed happily as he embraced me back. A bright light interrupted the moment and I looked towards the Earth as a meteroite hit the Earth, "And here is the creation of the moon," he murmured and I watched as a chunk of rock was detached from the Earth, "Beautiful," I saw that he was looking at me, and I elbowed him playfully, my tiredness was quite forgotten I had to say, "I'm not lying if it's true,"

I laughed slightly, "I bet you say that to all the girls," I teased him, before straightening my expression, "Can I ask you a question?" He nodded and I pulled out the fog watch in my pocket, showing it to him, "The concentric circles...I know that they're Gallifreyan, but I don't know what it says. The TARDIS won't translate it, either because it can't," there was a hum from the console, "Or because it won't...What does it mean?"

He folded my fingers over the silver watch carefully, "It's the most important thing about me," he answered, "The one thing that everyone wonders when they meet me, the one thing that I can never say," I frowned at him, and he bent down, his mouth near my ear, "It's my name," he whispered, and I looked down at the innocent circles on the watch, "Keep it safe," I nodded at him, pressing the watch close to me, "I hope that we will never need it," I slipped the watch into my pyjama pocket, noticing that it seemed slightly heavier than usual. Just my perception of it no doubt, the implication much greater, "I can't think of safer hands,"

"I promise I'll look after it," I said to him, "I won't let it go any further than my hand," he smiled at me, "Thank you..." I brushed a stray piece of hair off his face, "Thank you so much for everything," he pressed his forehead against mine as the newly born Earth circled past us, "You truly are...the best man I have ever met, and I wouldn't miss anything of this for the entire world," I placed my hand on his face delicately, "Now and forever..."

"Now and forever," he repeated to me, and I stayed there long into the early hours of the morning, watching the creation of the Earth, comfortable in the knowledge that although this birthday had been the most frightening, it had to be said that it was also the best birthday I have ever experienced.

**Questions, questions, questions, but what questions. Ask and you may find out, if you never ask then you'll never know whether I might have answered them or not. And you'll never ever know. So scribble a line in the little box.**

**And we made it to 80 reviews...well past 80, which leads us onto a sneek peek which only 2 people answered to which episode they wanted to see a few lines of and they were different episodes, so I decided to have a bit from each. (A****ren't you lucky?)**

**GITF: **_**"France...such a funny place. So set above other countries. Conquered different parts of itself and then becomes a major player in world politics, and then has a Revolution. Always changes yet fundamentally stays the same," we clinked together our goblets, "To Eighteenth Century France,"**_

_**"To spatial-temporal magic doors," I added.**_

_**"And to space age clockwork," he finished and we drunk down the wine. It tasted all right as alcohol went. Not my favourite I would have to say, "I give us about half an hour before we have to get back to find Rose and Mickey," he looked down at me, "Dame Mary Anne Tyler, would you do me the honour of dancing with you?"**_

_**"Sir Doctor, I think I will,"**_

**Rise of the Cybermen: ****_"I don't care who he is, you better get home right now. It's my thirty ninth..."_**

**_"Forty," I corrected her, automatically. I then winced slightly, that was a very stupid thing to do in hindsight. What made me say that?_**

**_I could hear her clear her throat on the other end of the phone, "Thirty ninth birthday...that's what my official biography says. I was born on the same day as Cuben Gooding Jnr," I stared at the phone feeling dread come over me._**

**Reviews:**

**AquilineFeline: Thank you so much for your two reviews, I'm so glad you like the story, it really means the world to me. Thanks for reminding me about the new SOPA demon that's threatening to come along. Very worrying for everyone if it does get through. I do need to read up more about the EU stance on it, as I live in the UK. :)**

**melody 3: Thank you for your review. I can't believe you managed to read it all in two days, you must have like it a lot to read it that quickly. I love Alice in Wonderland as well, although I'd have to say that Through the Looking Glass is more my favourite of the two. Don't ask me why, but Lewis Carroll did such a wonderful story with both of them. :)**

**sailormajinmoon: Glad you liked the chapter. I have to say that I had to have Mary Anne answering back to Queen Victoria. As a history student, I've never liked Queen Vic much so I took the opportunity. :)**

**skidney and DragonRose4: Thank you so much for your reviews once again, you really deserve a lifetime supply of cookies (if you like cookies)**

**:)**

**_Next Time_**

**_"You're the new librarian," I almost spilled the hot water as a voice sounded behind me. I turned tolook at the teacher who had brushed past me earlier in the kitchen, silently, "Miss Tyler, wasn't it?" I nodded, finding him rather uncomfortable to talk to. All I wanted to do was get as far away from him and find the Doctor, "How are you finding the work?"_**

**_:)_**

**_"My apologies, I'm really confused," I held out my hand, "We met earlier but I'm Alice Tyler, so very nice to meet you," _**

**_:)_**

**_"So many people come and go, never staying, always leaving,"_**

**_:)_**

**_"You'll just...forget me. Like a painting left hanging on a wall in the middle of an abandoned house. Because once in a while people will visit it, but they won't know who I am,"_**


	17. School Reunion: Part 1

**Hello all! How are we? Absolutely fantastic response to the last chapter from everyone so thank you so much for those wonderfully kind words that everyone wrote. Skidney, dream lighting, sailormajinmoon, melody c, Rated T Because I'm Paranoid, DragonRose4, Airhead121, and AquilineFeline, thank so much for your reviews, answers to questions are at the bottom.**

**Thank you to Dreamerjess, smilercat, and iloveyourosetyler, for favouriting the story as well.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, only my copies of the DVD's and not even Season 5 because I can't find it!**

* * *

School Reunion: Part 1

"Flying the TARDIS is harder than it looks," the Doctor said to me, walking around the console, "It's not just a question of getting the order of what to do right, it's about doing it at the correct time as well as the correct place," I nodded, that sounded for once, at least somewhat, understandable compared to his usual rambles which left me confused and wanting a dictionary to translate, "So while it is a matter of knowledge about the TARDIS which is easy to teach, it also a matter of instinct and knowing how to handle everything delicately. And don't worry because I will be here to make sure you don't blow a hole in the universe,"

Already this was starting to be somewhat more difficult than I had first thought it was going to be. To be fair, it hadn't exactly been my idea to learn how to fly the TARDIS, the Doctor had been the one to make the suggestion but if someone asks you whether you want to learn how to fly a spaceship that travels in time and space then you're not exactly going to turn down that offer. And besides there wasn't exactly anything pressing that we were doing anyway. The Doctor had spent the previous two days fixing the cabling, and had only just managed to get them to work. And I had spent the last two days alternating between helping him with pieces of metal and reading a book I had found in the library.

"So I've inputted some random coordinates so we could literally be flying to anywhere," I stared at him, "Don't worry, it's to a random planet so you won't be flying us into the sun or anything," Well that was a relief, "So first thing is to power up the atom accelerator," he pointed and I did what he told me, "Release the time rotor handbrake, and the inertial dampeners," I did what he told me, quickly, flicking a switch and pulling a random lever, "And then..." he grinned at me, "The space-time throttle," I pulled that lever straight down and the TARDIS jerked a little as I felt us move off, "You see? Simple,"

I could feel the TARDIS hum around us, "Why are you always running around the console then?" I asked him, "And usually we're rocketing around like nobody's business, falling over..." I thought a little, "Like a boat in the middle of a tsunami,"

He sniffed, "Well it's a bit more complicated than what I showed you," I made a mock face of realisation at that, "Just don't try it alone," fair enough, "Now...if we want to land somewhere then it's fairly the same method, well sort of but..." we both looked towards the door where Rose had just walked though, "Uh oh, here comes trouble," he muttered to me playfully and I swatted him back, "And how are you?" he asked my sister who nodded vaguely back, "Clearly not in the mood for conversation," he told me.

"It's Mickey on the phone," I realised that Rose had her mobile pressed to her ear, but she passed me a cup of tea which made it better, "Says he's got something to tell us," I wrinkled my nose playfully at the Doctor over the console as my sister put the phone on loudspeaker, "Says we ought to investigate a school or something," she spoke a little louder to the phone, where I presumed that Mickey was on the other end ready to inform us of something that hopefully was slightly worthwhile, "Tell them what you told me, Mickey," she instructed her sometimes boyfriend.

"Hi, Alice...Doctor," Mickey's voice came out of the other end, "Sorry to phone up like this," the Doctor rolled his eyes and I swatted him again with him retaliating by nudging me back, "Thought you might want to hear about this school I've been investigating," I folded my arms, leaning against the console, listening to Mickey's voice, "You see ever since you lot left after Christmas I've been looking into any suspicious activities just in case there was another alien invasion that we'd need your help for,"

The Doctor grinned, "Well I do try and help in every situation there is," he replied, puffing up a little.

"Yeah well about three months ago there were massive UFO sightings over this school in London, and a new Headmaster is installed," Mickey carried on, "Suddenly the school gets record GCSE results which just doesn't happen in that area of London. Make something like a fifty percent jump up in these months. Thought I'd better call you just in case something's going on that we don't know about. See if you can check it out, I mean one of my mates down at the mechanics got his son working there and even he says it's a bit weird,"

The Doctor sniffed a little, "You want us to go down to a school full of teenagers in the middle of London and snoop around just because of a few newspaper articles in a local magazine," he said, "Is that it? Maybe the children decided that they needed to be a little better behaved and that's why the results are so good? Maybe they started eating a little better? Fruits and apples but not pears..." he tapped the TARDIS console, his mind trailing off, "Pears are disgusting...nobody likes pears, I don't like pears,"

"I've tried to get the files but they've all been sealed by the army," Mickey added. The Doctor actually looked slightly interested in that, "Mostly some journalist lady has been writing about it for the Times which I've also been following," Rose looked at the Doctor, a slightly pleading look on her face, "I wouldn't ask if I didn't think that it was important. Where are you at the moment anyway? What are you doing?"

"Oh..." the Doctor looked at me, "Just..." I raised my eyebrows at him, "Just teaching actually," my lips twitched at that, "Fine...fine," he spun a wheel on the rotor, "Where is this school then?"

"It's Deffry Vale High School in London," Mickey informed us, "February 1st 2007," the Doctor spun the coordinates into the TARDIS, and immediately the ship shook violently as normal, "Guess I'll see you there," I placed my hand over the top of my tea, preventing any from spilling out as the TARDIS returned to my present day, "Bye," the phone clicked off just as the TARDIS landed sharply on the ground. My tea remained mostly still in it's mug which I had to say meant I was getting awfully better at making sure I didn't fall over. This was progress.

I raised my cup of tea in a salute at that, "To old friends," I muttered, before drinking the liquid, "May they always be a source of interest to us and may they always go looking for trouble in these wonderful times," both Rose and the Doctor stared at me oddly, "Did I say something wrong?" I questioned, "Pardon me if I have,"

"It's only Mickey," I rolled my eyes at my sister's words, leaning against the railings, "So," Rose grinned at the Doctor, "How exactly are we going to infiltrate this school, because I have to say, I don't think me and Alice are qualified to teach kids about anything other than how to work in a shop," I had to agree with that, qualifications higher than a GCSE was not something that I had in my possession, "We are going to be going undercover...aren't we? Not just going to rifle around the school at night?"

"Course," the Doctor was looking at the screen, "I can get a position as a teacher somehow...ooh Lottery," he grinned at us, "I could do the Lottery, other than that there seems to be two positions as a librarian and a dinner lady," Rose and I looked at each other immediately, neither of us wanting to be the dinner lady, "Rock, paper, scissors?"

"One, two, three?" I offered. Rose nodded and we quickly mimed it out with me showing paper and her showing rock, "I win," she stuck her tongue out at me, and I smiled back at her, "So how exactly are we going to infiltrate the school as a teacher, a librarian and a dinner lady, Doctor?" I asked the man, "And how long are we going to be doing this job thing, because I have to say we've never exactly spent a long time undercover, and what exactly will we be looking for which is suspicious? Because drinking and smoking are usually quite normal in a secondary school,"

He shrugged, "I don't know, anything that is slightly weird, alien," he replied. Well that didn't help one bit, he looked perfectly ordinary, even if the pinstripes with the converse was a little out of the normal range, although it did suit him, "I mean they're only teenagers...how hard can it be?" I had to stop myself from hitting my forehead, "Now I need to post a lottery ticket, don't wait up for me," he grabbed his coat before walking out of the door, Rose and I staring after him as the TARDIS door shut.

Rose looked at me, "He has no idea what secondary school is like, does he?" she said and I shook my head, drinking more of my tea, "Pity...I'm actually looking forward to seeing him handle a class then. How long do you think it'll take before he starts to get a little bit annoyed with then?"

"No idea," I answered, "But I'm betting it's going to be quicker than he thinks it will be," I leaned back looking at her, "I wonder what you'll look like in a dinner lady's uniform?" she threw my book at me and I dodged it quickly, "Mind the tea!" I half laughed, "Somehow I'm going to guess that you're going to be more annoyed than the Doctor is," she half glared at me, "I bet they have good chips...schools always have good chips. Probably the only food that they can actually do,"

"Shut up," she told me and I smiled pleasantly at her, "You're going to be stuck in a room full of books all day with nothing much to do apart from maybe...maybe have one or two people in a day. Stocking shelves...checking out of date library books. Really riveting stuff...honestly,"

I shrugged, "Still better than a dinner lady," I teased her, before looking at the Doctor as he strode through the door, "So...what do we do now? Go and get Mickey? Or are we going to have to wait here until the morning," I turned the scanner towards me, "Because that looks like the middle of the night to me, whereas my clock tells me that it's eleven in the morning, are we going to have to wait the whole night?" there was a rap on the door, "My prayers are answered," I remarked ironically as Rose let Mickey in. I nudged the Doctor with my foot, "You know he's actually been in here long enough to count as one of us,"

"My TARDIS, my rules," he said and I had to nod at that, "How are you then, Mickey boy?" he looked at the other man.

"Tired," Mickey informed him, "I've been waiting around all day for you lot to show up," I hid a smile in my mug. Clearly it had been a little longer than five minutes since that telephone call for Mickey, "Have you got a plan to get into the school then?"

The Doctor nodded, "Us three go undercover into the school while you keep on working with the army records and find out exactly what they were looking at," he said, and Mickey nodded, "Shouldn't take too long, I mean it is only a school..."

* * *

Which is exactly how I found myself in the middle of the library checking out books and pushing them back to the shelves when there had been enough returned. This had to be one of the most dullest jobs I had ever had and I had worked in plenty of different jobs since I had left school. The really weird thing was that all of the kids that came into the library were all completely silent. I know you were meant to be quiet in a library but not to the extent these kids were...it was creepy. They often just read a book by themselves before checking it out. No sneaky eating...not a text under the table...just silence. And it was only my second day here.

And it had seemed like the Doctor was having the same problem with his class. The kids he was teaching in his physics class were generally all rather quiet with not much to say. In all this was turning out to be a rather dull school that had a rather unhealthy interest in academics. I had asked the other librarian if it had always been like this and she had only answered with a simple, "The Headmaster has specifically designed the curriculum to make the children improve their performance," which didn't tell me much about anything apart from the Headmaster, a man named Mr Finch, liked to design timetables for children.

I had met the Headmaster once which was a brief ten minute interview that pretty much stated to me that there hadn't been a long line of applicants to the job I was doing. He also was very happy to repeat the successes in the results since he had been at the school...and I had to try the chips. I had tried them and they were fairly nice but I never really got on with any teacher I had when I was in school and Mr Finch wasn't really an exception to that. The only new thing about this particular teacher was that we were investigating and all boring things would hopefully, if Mickey had got his information right, lead to something a lot better than what Mr Finch was telling me.

"You know, I always thought that teaching would be a lot more invigorating," the Doctor said to me as we stood in the line to get lunch, "I mean brilliant minds children have, absolutely fascinating, can do anything if you put your mind to it. They have such imagination...so why is the teaching so monotone? I thought it was all field trips and things,"

"The only field trip I was allowed on was the one to Hampton Court and that ended badly when I got myself lost in the Chapel," I informed him, as chips were placed on my tray, "The teachers spent three hours looking for me, finally finding me in the middle of the maze. Wasn't allowed to go on any more...they said I caused unneccesary stress which could have been resolved if I followed instructions like all the others," I sniffed, looking at the dollop of food placed on my tray. I wasn't going to eat that, "It didn't work out too well for me in the long run,"

"Could be worse," the Doctor quipped as Rose glared at us as she put rice on our trays, and I grinned happily back. She was so going to get me back for that, "Could be serving crumble...or pears," We sat down at a table, eating the food, "So have you found out anything off about this place then?" he asked me lowly, "Any weird signs from the children?"

I sighed, leaning back in my chair, "Well...apart from the fact that the library is creepily popular and quiet, I can't really see anything else odd about the place," I remarked, and he frowned, "I mean in my school, you only went to the library if it was a) raining, b) you wanted to hang out somewhere privately or c) because you didn't have many friends and the library could occupy your time. Here it seems to be the opposite," I shrugged, "The other librarian says it's down to the Headmaster's new curriculum," we both looked up to where Mr Finch was standing on the balcony, watching us all, "I do have to say that I find him weirder than the library,"

The Doctor scratched his ear, "What are the children mostly interested in?" he inquired, "The books that are most out on loan,"

"Textbooks...wider reading of specific topics," I reeled off thinking back, "Mostly nonfiction in fact," I pointed out, "Only a few really check out the fiction books," I twirled a chip around on my fork, "When I was in school, if I was in the library I'd always read a fiction book...usually just to distract me from school. Not that I didn't like learning..." I added, "I hated the teachers," he looked pensive, "Why has something happened in one of your classes?"

"Maybe," he murmured, before looking over my shoulder, "Oh...look who it is," I turned to see Rose come over to where we were, cleaning the table. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry that she had been landed with the worse job, "Having fun?" he asked her as she started cleaning our table.

She glared at him, "Two days," she informed us, "Two days we've been here," I leaned back in my chair, chewing on a chip. They were oddly addictive when I thought about them, "Two days, have you found out anything yet? Anything at all?"

He pointed to a place on the table, "Sorry, could you just?" she moved her cloth to clean the spot, "No, no, just there," he gestured and I could see her withhold a sigh. I kicked him gently under the table to tell him to stop teasing her, "Anyway blame your boyfriend," he added, "He was the one to put us onto this, and he was right," I looked up at that, leaning forward, "Boy in my first class, just this morning. He's got knowledge way beyond Planet Earth," he grimaced, dropping his chip on the plate, "They taste a little different...not exactly wrapped in newspaper," he explained to us.

"I think they're gorgeous," Rose sat down next to me and I pushed my plate towards her, allowing her to eat my chips, "Wish I had school dinners like this, do you remember?" she asked me and I thought back, "Always rather had a packed lunch most days," she did have a very good point there.

The Doctor was looking all around the place, "It's very well behaved, this place," he said, "I thought that there would be happy slapping hoodies," I stared at him, "Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones," I coughed into my hand with laughter at that, as he grinned happily at both of us, "Oh yeah, don't tell me that I don't fit in,"

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a station," I bolted up at that seeing the head dinner lady standing right behind me. Creepily weird dinner lady with the stupid hat and everything.

"I was just talking to these teachers," Rose said to her, sarcastically and the Doctor waved happily, "He says he doesn't like the chips," she added in a stage whisper that practically everyone could hear.

The dinner lady drew herself up at that, "The menu has been designed specifically by the Headmaster to improve concentration and performance," she stated coldly to us and I frowned at her words. That was almost exactly what the other librarian had said to me when I had asked about the use of the library. The dinner lady narrowed her eyes at Rose, "Now get back to work," she strode away stiffly and I watched her carefully, still a bit ticked off about the words that she had used. Just a coincidence, maybe?

Rose dragged herself up, "You see, this is me," she told us, gesturing to us, "Dinner lady," we both grinned at her, "I'm so going to kill both of you because of this," she disappeared into the kitchens and I placed my head on my hand, watching the Doctor.

"Do you think that the boy is an alien?" I questioned and the Doctor shook his head.

"Nah, that would just be rather stupid to reveal yourself in front of us so easily," he answered, "But I do think that the boy is part of it. Maybe this is why the school had such a high result in exams? Can't just be one boy," one of the other teachers past behind me swiftly and I shivered a little, "Cold?"

I shook my head, "Didn't think I was," I remarked, "Just felt like a breeze," I looked at Finch standing on the balcony, before shaking my head, "Anyway, you and I have got work that we need to be getting on with, stocking shelves, and teaching small children about things they'll never need in real life," I stretched as we stood up, "It's weird being back at school, now I think about it," he looked interested, "It's like coming back to your past that you left behind. You think you left it alone, that you don't bother looking back, and then it creeps up on you. Suddenly just appears,"

"Never thought of it like that," he said.

I smiled, "Neither did I until now,"

* * *

**So what did people think of that? I have to say I am always fascinated with what happens in between the scenes that we see on the episode, the moments off screen for our characters because obviously they didn't spend their time not saying anything to each other, I think I'm going to expand on that do the coming chapters.**

**Reviews:**

**Sailormajinmoon: Woah...long reviews (I love it!) Glad you liked the end of the last chapter, I always find it difficult to always input close moments into the original scripts because there's already so much stuff there. Meeting Sarah Jane will be...hmmm well you'll see :)**

**melody c: Thank you so much for your review! Sorry that Sarah Jane isn't in this chapter but I've already written the next chapter so it'll definitely be up before this week is out! :)**

**Rated T because I'm Paranoid: Definitely watch it...it's one of my favourite episodes. Hope you're liking the story :)**

**DragonRose4: Damn I didn't see that! You know when you read through everything twice and you still miss things? Me in a nutshell. Thanks for the heads up, will definitely remedy this in next couple of days :)**

**AirHead121: Soon but I'm not telling you when... :D**

**AquilineFeline: Gah! I need to remember that it's a fob watch not fog. It's always the little things. Not a particular fan of Girl in the Fireplace either but I'll definitely do my best. :)**

**Skidney: Thank you! lots of cookies to you! :)**

**dreamlighting: Definitely doing School Reunion, as the title suggests :D glad you liked the chapter, not slowing down!**

**Ahh and you people went over the 90 mark, we're very nearly to 100 and that means a big sneak peak...so send in suggestions please. What do you want to see?**

**But I'll leave you with a line from the Idiot's Lantern.**

_**"She's my sister," I said simply, staring in front of me, "She has always been there for me, and she has always looked after me even when I thought she couldn't. But now it's my turn...because I'm not going to let her down, and I will do everything to get her back," I looked at the Doctor, "With or without your help,"**_

**Hope that satisfied you lot. Don't forget the suggestions for 100 reviews :D Always lovely to hear from people.**

**:)**


	18. School Reunion: Part 2

**Hello, I'm back with a new chapter. Not as quick as I would have liked it to be, but that was my own fault not completely liking the way that it flowed. Far too many variables for me to truly like it as much as I would have wanted it to be, but I tried my hardest and that's the best anyone can do in this instance.**

**Thank you once again to the lovely reviewers of this story that really make it such a pleasure to be writing all this words that make up a story. So lots of thank you's go to Skidney, synismysin, AquilineFeline, sailormajinmoon, dream lighting, DragonRose4, and Guest (who I'd like to thank even though there's no name). Thank you also to Fan Fictional Authoress, and Blue Wolf29 for following the story as well.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, I wouldn't be panicking about my rent due next month. And rent suddenly gets to be very important.**

* * *

School Reunion: Part 2

After half an hour of being back in the bloody quiet of the library, I decided that I had to get some decent conversation. The other librarian was hardly decent conversation and I needed someone to talk to. I really hadn't realised how much I had actually had people talking all around me when I was in the TARDIS or we were out on another adventure. Since taking the librarians job I had finished my book that I had started reading and another one that I had found on the shelves. I was going to go crazy if I didn't have some decent conversation in the next five minutes. The Doctor was no doubt teaching something that I didn't understand to a load of teenagers, so therefore I made my way to the kitchens.

"You look bored," Rose said to me as I walked through the door, and I looked pointedly at her in annoyance, "You haven't looked that bored since I recommended we play Cluedo in the TARDIS when the Doctor was fixing a valve in the swimming pool," she threw me a tea towel, "You can help me if you've come to have a talk. I've got a huge pile of washing up that I have to do and you can do the drying up," I picked up a bowl, drying it off slowly, "How is the library? Enjoying yourself perhaps?"

"I don't think it could get any more quiet if I tried," I informed her, "And I don't mind the quiet," I placed the bowl on the side, "At times I really wished there was more quiet, however constant silence when there are loads of kids in a room is just creeping me out and I need some normal conversation to reassure me that I am not going completely insane in there," she giggled, "I'm not even joking, the kids just sit there and read. No laughter, no mobiles going off...not even someone eating a packet of crisps. Dead silence all the time, not natural. And I like libraries usually,"

She sighed, "Well it's no better than here, I can assure you," she stated, "Apart from the chips because they're nice. And I'm not even supposed to eat them," I picked up a tray, drying it out, "I suppose the only one who is actually having any sort of fun would be the Doctor because he get's to babble on about anything he knows about physics. Probably confuses half the kids and other half aren't even listening," I grinned at that, "How long do you think this is going to take?"

I shrugged, "Who knows, I certainly don't," I remarked, "Mickey seemed to be sure that something was going on around this place and just from the library and what the Doctor said happened in class this morning, I'm willing to bet there is something that is happening around this place. Just a matter of time before something turns up which means we can do something," she passed me another tray, "And I have to say this isn't exactly the best place for an alien invasion of any kind. If there are aliens then they ought to have tried the nearest army base, that would have worked a little better, I would have thought,"

"There have to be some stupid aliens in the universe, they can't all be super intelligent," she said and I looked behind me to see the rest of the kitchen staff walking into the room holding a barrel steady. They all seemed to be wearing some sort of hazmat suits as well. White gloves and face masks, "They've been bringing that stuff in all day," Rose muttered in my ear, "Always dressed like that," her phone went off and she looked at the ID, "Mickey," she answered it and I leaned in closer trying to hear, "What have you got?" She asked him, "Speak loudly, Alice is trying to hear as well,"

_"Confirmation,"_ he answered over the phone, _"I managed to get into the army records...after a lot of hard work. Three months ago, there was massive UFO activity that the army was very interested in. They logged over forty sightings, lights in the sky, all of that. The Doctor probably will want to know about that,"_

I leaned in closer to the phone, trying to speak so that he could hear me but the other kitchen staff couldn't, "Was UNIT involved?" I inquired, "They usually do the whole UFO thing with the army, well that's what the Doctor said. Anything to tell us exactly was going on three months ago?"

_"I don't think UNIT were involved, they don't have any symbols or signs saying that they were involved,"_ Mickey told me,_ "But I can't get any photos because it becomes all classified and secret. Keeps locking me out, and not even the password that the Doctor told me helps at all. Something was definitely happening, that's what I can tell you. And it's happening right inside that school whatever it is,"_

"I'll tell you what though," Rose remarked, "Three months ago, turns out all the kitchen staff were replaced," I frowned at her, she hadn't mentioned that to me, "And this lot are weird," I looked over my shoulder at the other dinner ladies carrying another barrel, "Keep pushing large containers into the kitchen. No idea what's inside them,"

_"Ah ha, you see, I was right to call you home,"_ Mickey seemed triumphant at that, _"There is definitely something going on. I can feel it,"_

"I thought maybe you called me home, well just to call me home," Rose admitted and there was a laugh on the other end, "Well you could have done,"

_"Do you think I'd just invent an emergency?"_ Mickey asked her,_ "That's the last thing I'd do because every time I get to see you lot an emergency always gets in the way,"_ I considered that and had to nod, every time we managed to get to see home or Mickey, something always did pop up and we'd have to sort it out again before flying off again in the TARDIS, _"Besides the Doctor is a walking trouble magnet, can't go anywhere without him finding something odd or suspicious. I know what I'm talking about,_"

There was a shout behind me and I turned to see one of the containers had fallen over onto one of the kitchen staff. I grimaced as the woman started to hiss, smoke coming off her, that didn't seem right, "I'll call you back," Rose told Mickey, ending the call, "You better run off...they won't like it if you're here. I'll call an ambulance," I nodded at her, quickly running off out of the kitchen and into the corridor. That was just plain scary. I hadn't ever seen something like that before, and considering I had been with the Doctor for over a year, I had seen quite a bit.

When I reached the Doctor's classroom, he was still teaching so I had to wait around for another fifteen minutes before he dismissed the class which was tedious enough without having important things to tell him, "You seem rather agitated," he remarked when the class was gone, "Has something happened?"

"A dinner lady knocked over a barrel of oil in the kitchens and started smoking," I told him and he frowned, "Like acid chewing through metal. Rose is ringing an ambulance but it was weird. She told me that they've been bringing these barrels in since we arrived here. Masks and white gloves...everything, like the barrels contained something very dangerous," I leant against the desk, "And Mickey rang...said that the army had been looking into this place three months ago when there was massive UFO activity sighted. Not UNIT but it's definitely classified. Someone knows something,"

"And we've walked right into the middle of it," he nodded, "Sounds like there is something that is going on...and we have to get to bottom of it. Like Scooby Doo and his gang. We have to find out who is behind the mask to know what's going on," we walked out of the classroom, "I had another child in that class showing that there is something seriously odd. I asked him what was 360x1264 and he got it exactly right. To the most precise number. Completely different year to the boy this morning as well. I want to see whether it's happened in all the classes,"

I noticed where we were walking to, "Which is why we're going to the staff room," I realised, "Ahh, I understand," he grinned as we walked into the room, some teachers milling around, drinking tea and eating biscuits, "Cup of tea?" I asked and he nodded, "You find out information then, people like you," I walked over to the kettle turning it on.

"You're the new librarian," I almost spilled the hot water as a voice sounded behind me. I turned tolook at the teacher who had brushed past me earlier in the kitchen, silently, "Miss Tyler, wasn't it?" I nodded, finding him rather uncomfortable to talk to. All I wanted to do was get as far away from him and find the Doctor, "How are you finding the work?"

"Well I'm never bored," I lied to him, pouring milk into the cups and stirring it around easily, "Excuse me," I moved past the man to where the Doctor was talking to another teacher, "Tea," I passed him the cup before looking back uneasily at the teacher who had rejoined the others. This school was getting creepier by the minute and getting out of here was something that was becoming more prevalent on my mind, "So what's going on?" I inquired of the two men, stealing a biscuit from a tray.

The Doctor looked at me, "Were discussing how it is that some of the children are fantastically clever," he said, "Apparently it's not just in my class that they know more than they should,"

"I'll say," I looked up at the teacher, "Yesterday I had a twelve year old girl tell the exact height of the walls of Troy...in cubits," I frowned at that, "And believe me, it's happened ever since the Headmaster arrived," he nodded towards the small flock of teachers, "Finch arrived three months ago and suddenly overnight half the staff was ill with the flu. He then brought that lot to replace them, except for the teacher that you..." He nodded at the Doctor, "Replaced, and that was just plain weird, her winning the lottery like that,"

"Why is that weird?" I questioned, finishing the biscuit off.

"Well she didn't play," he answered, and I shared a look with the Doctor, "Said that the ticket was posted through her door at midnight," I raised my eyes at him, and he shrugged at me, innocently. Of course that ticket was going to say the right numbers for the lottery.

"The world is very strange," he only answered and I resisted the urge to poke him in the side, but he grinned at me and I quickly forgot to be annoyed with him.

"Excuse me colleagues," I turned around to see Mr Finch standing in the corner accompanied by a brunette woman who smiled at the rest of us, "A moment of your time," now he had the attention of every teacher, "May I introduce Miss Sarah Jane Smith," I took a quick look at the Doctor who seemed to be standing at the woman in shock and surprise, "Miss Smith is a journalist who is writing a profile about me for the Sunday Times," I frowned at the Doctor who continued to stare at the woman, "I thought it might be useful for her to get a view from the trenches, so to speak," he smiled at us, "Don't spare my blushes," he added before leaving the way he came.

Miss Smith smiled around at us before catching mine and the Doctor's eyes and making her way over to us, "Hello," she said to us, shaking my hand. I did so, nodding at her, before looking at the Doctor. He was acting weirdly, "And you are?"

"Oh I should think so," he replied to her, shaking her hand, grinning, "I'm John...Smith, this is Mary-Anne Tyler," he was acting very peculiar, and I rolled my eyes again.

"John Smith?" she asked, before a shadow crossed over her face, "I used to have a friend that sometimes went by that name. He was a very uncommon man," she shrugged her shoulders a little, and I leant back against the sofa, "Nice to meet you," he nodded enthusiastically at that, "Er...so have you both worked here long?"

I shook my head, "No," I told her, "It's...our second day. He's a teacher, I'm a librarian here. Only just arrived, getting to know the place,"

"Oh, so you're new then?" hadn't I already just said that, but nodded along with her words, "So what do you think of the school?" she leaned in slightly closer, "I mean this new curriculum? So many children getting ill...doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"You don't sound like someone who's just doing a profile," the Doctor said, conspiratorially, and I folded my arms at his words. What was making him act like an idiot? I thought we were supposed to blend in, not make ourselves obvious to people that happened to come along out of the blue. Who even was this woman?

Miss Smith only smiled, "Well there's no harm in a little investigation while I'm here," she merely informed us, "See you around," she moved on towards another group of teachers, leaving the Doctor look behind us at her.

"No, good for you," the Doctor nodded to himself, "Good for you...oh good for you, Sarah Jane Smith," he watched her slightly from where we were standing before realising that I was looking at him like he was a complete moron, "What?"

I sighed, shaking my head a little, "What on Earth was all that about?" I asked him, "No wonder she didn't stay to ask us any questions, you probably completely scared her by acting like a idiot," he looked confused, and I let out a long breath, "Doesn't matter, you enjoy your biscuit. I'll explain later," I looked at my watch, "I better get back to the library, don't want to get fired or anything...not yet at any rate," I went to go before looking back at him, "Don't scare any more strangers, all right. The school might fire you instead,"

"Yes, Mum," he replied back with a grin at me.

I pointed a finger at him, mockingly, "I'm not your mother," I retorted, biting back my laughter, "Have a good afternoon," he waved a little before I left the room back to the deadened silence of the library. This was going to be a fun rest of the day.

* * *

"So what's our plan of action then?" I asked as I relaxed back in the TARDIS console chair, my legs swinging lazily, looking at the three people standing in front of me, "We know something is going on in the school, children are far too clever and too creepy to be completely human. We've got proof that something happened three months ago when the Headmaster and the staff that he brought along with him, and something happened in the kitchens this morning which was just plain weird," I looked at Rose, "They didn't call an ambulance then?"

It was the end of the day, and Rose, Mickey, the Doctor and I had made our base in the TARDIS as the sun went down, ready to plan out our next course of action. I had only seen Miss Smith once again during the day while she inspected the library and left rather quickly, not asking any questions to me or the other librarian, which I thought was rather odd for a journalist but I didn't question it. But all of us here in the TARDIS collectively agreed that something was happening inside the school and that we had to find out more about it as soon as possible.

Rose nodded at my words, "Yeah, the dinner lady was just shoved into a room and it sounded like she was burning but they didn't want me to call an ambulance or anything," she informed me, "It was really weird that they didn't want a single bit of help, they were all so calm about it. Definitely not right,"

"Well I've parked the TARDIS in an unused closet," the Doctor told us, "So now all we have to do is go and have a look around," he grinned at all of us, "Find out exactly what is happening in the midst of the school. And there won't be anyone to catch us...hopefully," he walked towards the door and I stood up, walking after him, "Come along,"

We walked out into the middle of a corridor, "Oh, it's weird seeing school at night," Rose grinned and a shiver ran up my back, I had to agree with her on this point, "It just feels wrong," she nudged Mickey, "When I was a kid, I used to think that all the teachers slept in school," I thought back before laughing shortly, remembering when she used to try and convince me that they did. We were only about six or seven, but it was a nice memory. As I looked around the silent corridors, I could help but wish that we had come here when it was slightly brighter. It wouldn't have been half as scary as it felt like now.

The Doctor turned around to look at us, "All right, team," he addressed us before grimacing, "Oh, I hate people who say team...err gang?" he tried out, "Comrades?" I shook my head, and he wrinkled his nose, "Anyway, Rose, you go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil," my sister nodded to him, "Mickey, the new staff are all Maths teachers. Go and check out the Maths department," Mickey half saluted him, "Mary-Anne," I straightened a little, "Your fellow librarian also arrived with Finch, go rummage around her desk," I gave him the thumbs up, "I'm going to go and look in Finch's office," he started walking up the stairs, "Meet back here in ten minutes,"

"You going to be all right?" Rose asked Mickey innocently while straightening her sleeve.

Her boyfriend laughed at her slightly, "Me?" he inquired, "Please, infiltration and investigation? I'm an expert at this," he turned to walk down a corridor, while Rose and I shared a look of amusement with each other, before seeing Mickey walk back to us, his back straight, "Where's the Maths Department?" he added, and I let out a giggle at him.

Rose grinned, pointing down another corridor, "Down there, turn left...through the fire doors, on the right," she instructed him and he nodded stiffly, before doing as she said, "What am I going to do with him?" she asked me.

"Get him a map," I replied, ready to walk to the library, "Or at the very least, make sure he knows what he's doing," she shrugged, still smiling as she disappeared off to the kitchens.

And I was ready to break into a school desk. This was really too much like Scooby Doo.

* * *

**And so tell me what you thought/or didn't think about it. If you do spot any glaring errors or even spelling mistakes then that'd be good. Even the best spellchecker can go wrong, and seeing that it thinks that TARDIS isn't a real word, I tend to ignore it...mostly.**

**Reviews:**

**Guest: I could definitely do that, I should definitely do that. If you have any idea of what exactly could happen in this interlude, then post it in the box. Always hesitant about doing an interlude which takes place in just the TARDIS. But the bonding bit, I can most definitely do. :)**

**DragonRose4: I'm glad you like the filled in blanks as well. I'm always wondering what exactly happens to get them from A to B and always gets me to write my own bits in between what the script has to say. And I know...being a dinner lady is no picnic :)**

**Skidney: :) :) :) Lots of smiley faces for you**

**sailormajinmoon: Oh she'll get back in some way, I'm sure about it. Chapter definitely does include Sarah Jane Smith as you have just read :)**

**dream lighting: Not so much as a conversation between the two at the moment but definitely next chapter! :)**

**AquilineFeline: Not giving everything away, but definitely one of your suggestions is going to happen. Maybe, you're right...maybe you're wrong but it is heavy spoilers. Hope you won't be disappointed though. :)**

**synismsin: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you like it so far :)**

**Sneak Peek! Well...we finally did it! we hit the hundred mark! 100 shiny reviews for the story, and I couldn't do it without all of you readers. S therefore there is definitely a sneak peek of the finale.**

_**"We know she's here," the woman said, and I sighed, pressing my head against the door of the TARDIS, "We saw her on the CCTV, you can't hide her from us. We ran her against our database, and she comes us clear as day with a very long file. Mary Anne Tyler, the Doctor's companion," there was a faint pause, "Don't make us force in there,"  
**_

_**I shot an apologetic look at Rose before slipping out of the TARDIS. The soldiers immediately aimed their guns at me, the safety catches clicking off, "You really don't need to shoot me," I said to the woman in front of us, "Really not going to be able to hurt any of you, I don't think," none of the soldiers put their guns down, "Right..." I looked up at the Doctor, "So you get an applause and I get a firing squad? What universe did we stumble into here?"**_

**Ahh, so many questions, so little time. Well not for me, I know what's going to happen, but you don't...I think. If you do, I'd wonder how you do know and that would be an interesting conversation.**

**:)**


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